Henkel, a producer of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings, has partnered with chemical and speciality materials company Celanese to develop water-based adhesives using carbon capture-based materials.
This initiative will offer the packaging and consumer goods sectors new opportunities to incorporate renewable content into their products by reutilising CO₂ emissions in the production process.
Henkel packaging and consumer goods adhesives division global head Pernille Lind Olsen said: “Our purpose is to pioneer packaging solutions for the benefit of people and planet, which means taking a holistic look at sustainability and making bold moves toward forward-looking technologies that offer our customers cost-effective options for improving sustainability.
“This initiative will provide new options for our customers to meet overall sustainability goals in the packaging industry.”
Earlier this year, Celanese initiated a carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) project at its site in Clear Lake, Texas. The CCU technology captures CO₂ emissions from industrial processes and converts them into methanol using hydrogen.
The project is part of Fairway Methanol joint venture owned by Celanese and Mitsui & Co.
Methanol is a key component of vinyl acetate monomer, which constitutes 35% of the polymers typically used in adhesive formulations.
The latest collaboration between Henkel and Celanese will enable the production of adhesives from captured CO₂ emissions.
This development aligns with the increasing consumer and market demands for products with reduced environmental footprints.
The use of CCU-based adhesives is expected to be particularly advantageous for industries such as paper and board, envelopes and graphic arts, e-commerce, and labelling.
Celanese global sustainability leader Kevin Norfleet said: “We are pleased to partner with Henkel to demonstrate another way in which Celanese ECO-CC products can support the transition to a more circular economy.
“Our CCU platform offers a compelling and scalable path to delivering sustainability into the adhesives market and we are continuing to work to develop solutions for a broad range of applications.”
