SEALANTS & ADHESIVES
IT’S TIME TO CHANGE
BMJ talks to two suppliers about the move away from plastic packaging for sealants and adhesive guns.
A
dhesives and sealants are used to make almost everything. They’re the binding forces that allow things to become much more than just a collection of parts. They’re great enablers for building a sustainable future. Despite this, each year in the UK construction and DIY sector alone, packaging from millions of waste single use plastic cartridges ends up in landfill. Some 10.9 million tonnes of waste is created in the UK each year and the construction industry contributes 30% of this waste. This is why the Government set targets for the industry to reduce this figure by 70% by 2020. The industry has recognised the damage it has done to the environment and has exceeded this target, but it is still something that we all need to be continually mindful of how we can play our part in reducing the impact further. Common plastic cartridges used for dispensing sealant and adhesive products are made from durable, high-density polyethylene (HDPE). It is well known that these do not biodegrade. They’re resistant to natural biodegradation processes because microbes that break down other substances simply don’t recognise HDPE as food.
Neil Herd, marketing director at Tembe DIY & Building Products Limited says that it is possible to recycle HDPE, but that recycling it relies on several factors falling into place first. “The most important being that for it to be recycled HDPE must be disposed of properly. Unfortunately, the majority of sealant and adhesive users fail at the first hurdle because it’s simply far too easy for their waste to become consolidated with everything else.” Herd points out that on the occasions when HDPE cartridges are disposed of using the correct waste channel, before a plastic recycling process can begin, it must be completely cleaned of all contaminants. “Unfortunately, when it’s been used to dispense a sealant or adhesive more often than not it’s heavily contaminated with the kind of stubborn product that prevents this cleaning process from working. “The enormity of our waste plastic problem is already well publicised, but more must be and can always be done to tackle it.”
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net February 2020
One solution is the new ECO-PACs from Hippo. These are aluminium foil sausages that replace traditional single use plastic cartridges. The new extended 2020 range can be used for carrying out many common sealant and adhesive tasks.
“These strong durable sausages are easy to use with no mess and contain less than 1% plastic,” he says. “They’re much better for the environment because they simply take up less physical space on their way into the supply chain and again once they’ve been used.” A traditional plastic cartridge occupies exactly the same amount of space whether it is full or empty, even once it’s become waste material. Meanwhile up to a quarter of a million Hippo ECO-PACs can arrive at production on just a single foil roll. This, Herd says, makes them far more efficient on their way into production resulting in lower carbon emissions.
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