Green adhesive solutions from Permabond UK

Adhesive sustainability is something that design engineers and manufacturers are starting to pay greater attention to. As a rule, most adhesives are not environmentally friendly, being either petrochemically derived and/or solvent-based. The adhesives industry as a whole has been slow to adapt to changing customer demand for 'greener' products, partly hindered by the inherent nature of adhesives themselves.

A fascinating development in the world of adhesive sustainability is the use of cashew nut shells as a completely natural, renewable resin product. More specifically, these shells produce a resin called cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), a reddish-brown viscous liquid extracted from the honeycomb structure inside the shells. CNSL contains compounds such as anacardic acid and cardanol, which are then modified slightly to produce raw materials suitable for use in epoxy resin systems as the curing agents. The cured system behaves as users would expect from an epoxy resin system and will bond a wide variety of substrates including metals, woods and some plastics.

Permabond ET5393, which contains CNSL as its resin component bonds well to a wide variety of substrates and is particularly effective on stainless steel.

Another exciting development is Permabond's upcoming switch to Medmix's MIXPAC greenLine cartridge range for all two-part epoxies. These are made from up to 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) or post-industrial recycled (PIR) plastics. The recycling of these plastics enables them to get a second life in the form of cartridges for Permabond's adhesives, all without compromising on performance in any way. Their sage green colour serves as a useful indicator and reminder of their more environmentally friendly nature.

Key benefits of using these cartridges are a reduced environmental impact, less waste and a lower carbon footprint. Transitioning across to using MIXPAC greenLine cartridges is a key part of Permabond's strategy to leverage greener technology in the production of its products.