ASC: Solutions for sustainability

Modern adhesives have a huge role to play in the move towards sustainability, notably in packaging applications, says Dow Chemical

Sustainability can mean many different things depending on who provides the definition. For Dave Parrillo, global research and development director for packaging and specialty plastics at Dow Chemical, sustainability means using resources efficiently and minimising the environmental footprint of your processes and products.

Adhesives play a key role in the sustainability of flexible food packaging Copyright: Rex Features

In addition, sustainability involves not only producing products as efficiently as possible, but making products – such as adhesives – that help improve the sustainability of other products, processes and applications.

“Economic development, migration from rural to urban centres, population growth, busier lifestyles, and a growing concern for the environment are among the top macro-trends driving growth and innovation in packaging, particularly flexible packaging for food,” says Parrillo. 

Sustainability, he adds, is arguably the most important underlying factor driving changes in the materials used today.

STEWARDING RESOURCES
Dow and other adhesives manufacturers have, in fact, been pursuing sustainability for many years. These companies are good stewards of resourcing, efficiently using raw materials, water and energy and minimising their carbon footprints. The adhesives also contribute to sustainability in use, by helping to save energy, extending product shelf life and replacing less attractive materials.

Of the very large $700bn-800bn global packaging industry, Parrillo believes that as much as 60-70% of the materials used could be replaced with materials that are more sustainable in some way. These new materials could be more efficient, allowing for down-gauging or light-weighting. They may be produced more efficiently or enable packaging products to be manufactured more efficiently with faster line speeds and reduced curing times.

“At Dow, we believe in solutions for human progress. Our adhesives portfolio can play a key role in lowering the carbon footprint and increasing the protection of products while also enabling greater product promotion,” he says.

Parrillo likes to focus on the flexible food packaging segment because most people can readily relate to the issues surrounding food packaging. It is also easy to see in this segment the impact that adhesives technology can have on the packaging market.

ENABLING ADHESIVES
“Just think about the types of packaging on grocery store shelves today and what used to be there just five or seven years ago. Much of food packaging in use today, a good percentage of which can be considered more sustainable, are new technologies that have been made possible through the use of adhesives,” he explains.

One example of a new technology from Dow for flexible food packaging applications is its line of MOR-FREE L PLUS solvent-less adhesives. These adhesives have a long mixed-pot life combined with fast-cure technology and an ability to run at fast line speeds, which results in reduced waste, increased productivity, and lower total system costs for laminators, according to Parrillo.

At the same time, these solvent-free adhesives bond strongly to a wide range of substrates and provide enhanced resistance to pressure and puncturing. The key to the technology is not that it is solvent-free, but that it is solvent-free and more processable.

Waterborne and solvent-less adhesives are rapidly gaining market share, but what has been achieved with these more sustainable technologies is only the beginning. “They have much more to offer than that they contain little or no volatile organic chemicals (VOC). In the future, adhesive chemistries will be developed that are both VOC-free and have added functionality, such as barrier protection” states Parrillo.