Increasing sustainability in adhesives and sealants

There has been an increasing drive in the entire chemical industry to improve the sustainability of processes and products. This is owing to growing environmental awareness among customers and ensuing regulations, and the looming shortage of oil from which many chemicals are derived and associated petroleum price volatility. “Using bio-renewable materials or waste feedstock helps reduce the carbon footprint,” says Ajay Durrani, Managing Director, Covestro India. “The inherent biodegradability of renewable material such as starch, polyhydroxyalkanoates or cellulose is often higher than that of synthetic materials such as polypropylene and polyethylene.” And Monica Khosla Bhargava, Principal Architect, KHAM Consultants, says, “Most adhesives we are using are sustainable products; the beauty of it is that most of the R&D has resulted in the availability of green products in the market. For instance, Kerakoll, which gives a rating on every product.” - DIKSHA JAWLE