Each and every product has a lifespan based on the materials used for its production. Maximising sustainability throughout these processes has become near expected from companies both large and small, and across all industries. This sustainability doesn’t just apply to the materials used for the vessel or packaging, but also for the labels, adhesives and ink used on the product as a whole. Innovations in adhesives have enabled companies to increase their environmental friendliness as they look to attract a more diverse and environmentally aware customer base.
Toxic Adhesives
Label adhesives are crucial – they ensure that your labels and branding stay tightly in place after all. But, using the wrong type of adhesive for your labels can greatly impact your overall sustainability efforts, making short work of any effort put into using recyclable packaging or vegan-friendly products. First, let’s find out what adhesives are out there:
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive
These types of adhesives are usually already applied to the label and are activated by simply applying pressure which will bond it to the material you are sticking it to.
Drying Adhesive
These types of adhesives harden and bond when the moisture is removed through evaporation. This is most commonly found in things like glue sticks and PVA glue bottles.
Hot Melt Adhesive
This is a type of plastic that is heated to a certain temperature to force it to melt, then applying it on the material you require before allowing it to cool and harden, thus bonding it.
Reactive Adhesive
This adhesive forms a bond between materials when it reacts with a certain substance causing a chemical reaction. The most common activator is water for adhesives such as these.
All of these adhesives have one thing in common – they contain potentially harmful and toxic solvents, chemicals and compounds. Synthetic “glues” or adhesives are commonly created from a combination of polyvinyl acetate (PVA), ethanol, water, acetone and some other substances. To modify the consistency of the adhesive, water will be used to thin the viscosity of the glue to suit that particular glue. These chemicals are not only harmful to the environment, but they also render the packaging they are used on unrecyclable, not to mention the amount of damage they cause during the production of the adhesive in the form of burning fossil fuels.
Potential Issues with Adhesives and Products?
There are some issues surrounding the adhesives used for labelling products, mainly due to the toxic compounds that are contained within the adhesive. Researchers at the University of Zaragoza discovered that the compounds used within these adhesives could, in some cases, permeate the labels and even packaging to contaminate either the product within or the consumer that handles the product. Now, the UK’s Food Standard Agency rebutted these discoveries by labelling the risk as extremely low, but they did concede that the potential was there and that further research into the area was required.
Green Adhesive Solutions
There is a green adhesive solution for a more sustainable approach to packaging. The two main adhesives are compostable and wash off adhesives, and both are explored in a little more detail below.
Compostable Adhesives
BioTAK adhesive is the worlds first compostable adhesive used for labelling. It is a waterborne adhesive based on an acrylic polymer which essentially means it is a water and acrylic based biodegradable adhesive fit for use on all packaging including food products.
Wash Off Adhesives
Recycling and even re-recycling plastic bottles and packaging is no longer the desired vision, but a regular practice in the food and drink industry. However, the adhesive used on labels can sometimes render the bottles unrecyclable due to the compounds in the glue. Wash off adhesive ensures that no detrimental adhesive residue is left on the packaging once washed off, meaning that more recycling is possible with the use of this glue. The same goes for the paper aspect of the packaging, with this being clean enough to recycle too.
The Bottom Line
The overall goal for green adhesives is to promote more recycling within the food, drink and packaging industry. The right steps have been in the sense of plastic and paper recycling, but things like labels and glues tend to be forgotten along the way. For a product and its packaging to truly strive for a sustainable process, it must take into account every aspect of the production of the product, down to the additives such as adhesives.
In our other pages, you can find information about everything from environmentally friendly paper, label ink and all the different sustainable labels we produce from recycled labels to biodegradable labels and everything in-between.