H.B. Fuller recently announced a strategic partnership with Covestro to deliver an adhesive with a reduced climate impact for the woodworking, composites, textiles, and automotive industries. According to H.B. Fuller, the new solution represents an evolution of previous sustainable product development and will likely extend into other products and areas of production.

“We are driven by the very present need to reduce CO₂ emissions and look after the world around us, and so too are our customers,” said Iñaki Sigler, H.B. Fuller’s global product manager for woodworking and composites. “This inspires us to continually explore new avenues to reduce our products’ environmental footprint and encourage our supply chain to do the same. Together with our partner, Covestro, we see this new, strategic product development as an investment in all our futures and a commitment to a more sustainable world.”

The new ingredient used in H.B. Fuller’s adhesive is a bio-attributed raw material created via a mass balance approach and will replace a proportion of previous fossil raw materials. Renewable raw materials are used as feedstock at the very beginning of the value chain and processed together with fossil-based ingredients in the same production units. The characteristic of the renewable feedstock process is then attributed to the end product.

“We are excited to supply H.B. Fuller as our first customer for adhesive applications with a mass-balanced product,” said Thorsten Dreier, Ph.D., head of Coatings and Adhesives at Covestro. “With the increased use of such alternative raw materials, we want to become less dependent on petrochemical feedstocks and contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. Alternative raw materials are part of a comprehensive program to work with our partners to drive the transition to a Circular Economy and ultimately become fully circular ourselves.”

The use of an equivalent amount of the alternative feedstock is guaranteed by Covestro through a third-party verified certification method. By gradually converting its production to alternative raw materials and working with reliable partners, who in turn collaborate with many certified suppliers, Covestro aims to replace fossil materials and make its value chains more sustainable.

H.B. Fuller is able to use the new drop-in solution immediately in its existing manufacturing processes without any technical conversion, and no adjustments are required at its customers’ facilities. Product quality is reportedly in no way inferior to conventional counterparts, but the lower attributed CO₂ footprint makes products more sustainable. H.B. Fuller reports that it has made sure that its customers’ own products and processes will not be compromised in any way. The “reformulation” of the reactive hot-melt adhesive has no impact on its performance, nor on the customers’ own manufacturing, and can be treated in exactly the same way as the product it replaces.

Learn more about H.B. Fuller at www.hbfuller.com. For additional information about Covestro, visit www.covestro.com.