A new adhesive made from refined industrial bio-waste could enable 90% of engineered wood products to become fully recyclable
Engineered wood products generally contain adhesives with formaldehylde, a toxic petrochemical that cannot be recycled or incinerated due to carcinogenic properties.
But a new glue adhesive developed by BindEthics circumvents these chemical risks by being derived from purified industrial bio-waste, preventing engineered wood products such as construction panels and furniture ending up in landfill.
Founded by masters students Maria Garcia and Callum Smith, BindEthics recently won the Armourers & Brasiers Venture Prize seed funding award.
The adhesive uses food waste as opposed to a synthetic chemical base
High protein content and polysaccharides aid the binding process while other natural crosslinkers and bioderived solvents are present in the formulation.
The formula uses indsutrial food waste that has been washed, filtrated and subject to centrifugation.
In 2022 preliminary trials conducted at the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) in York were backed up by analytical experimental studies enabling the development of the first minimum viable product.
“Our glue is ethically sourced, has end-of-life biodegradability and has properties suited to replacing traditional formaldehyde adhesives,” says Callum Smith. “As well as being fully recyclable the glue can be produced with almost no additional cost to the manufacturer and has a carbon footprint that is 86 percent lower than traditional adhesives.”
Engineered wood is currently part of a £9.5bn global market
BindEthics has already recieved support from Innovate UK, the University of Birmingham and the Biorenewables Development Centre in York under their European Regional Development Programme business assist scheme.
BindEthics is currently working with one of the three largest engineered wood companies in the UK and one of the UK’s largest packaging companies for technical insight. The company has several Letters of Intent from relevant partners including a European distributor.
The particle board industry in the UK alone currently uses 1000 tons per day of urea-formaldehyde adhesive valued at £388m annually. Globally, the value of the urea-formaldehyde market is £9.5bn.
“Our vision is that our new bio-adhesive derived from food waste will replace a range of adhesives used across industry,” said Callum Smith. “The initial focus is on replacing the formaldehyde-based glues used in the manufacture of engineered wood products, but we also envisage applications for our sustainable adhesive within the shoe and automotive industries.”
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