The packaging sector is making huge strides towards greener practices as a fresh wave of natural, plant-based adhesives hit mass production.
In the UK, tech business BindEthics confirmed its main eco-friendly adhesive, Ecohesive, has moved from laboratory testing to large-scale manufacturing. This groundbreaking, fully natural glue uses clean industrial waste produced from leftover materials from beer brewing.
Although Ecohesive’s main aim is to remove harmful chemicals from building materials, their use of food waste highlights a larger trend across many industries, where businesses are swapping fossil fuels and harmful petrochemicals for clean, renewable options.
This shift is very clear in food and drink packaging, with upcoming EU safety rules putting pollution and chemical leaks under a microscope. To keep up, big firms are rolling out fresh ideas to make supermarket items much easier to recycle.
UPM Adhesive Materials just released ProCycle, a new range of recycling-friendly labels. Aimed at big brands, this tech sticks incredibly well to plastic, cardboard and glass packaging. Crucially, it does not get in the way when the item goes to the recycling centre.
The drinks market is also seeing changes. Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives has unveiled a clever wash-off glue for wine and spirits. It stays sticky during shipping but dissolves easily during the cleaning process. This directly helps bottle reuse programmes, letting firms meet the green packaging demand without buying expensive new factory machines.
With stricter rules and shoppers wanting cleaner supply chains, firms are checking every packaging detail, right down to the sticky tape used to seal their deliveries. To immediately curb plastic waste and improve sustainability, a growing number of businesses are transitioning to eco-friendly paper tape ensuring their shipping boxes remain 100% recyclable.
With sales of these green, circular glues already topping thousands of tonnes, the packaging world seems ready to leave fossil fuels behind for good.
