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Environmental Protection
Environmental Protection
Ecological issues have gained increasing importance over recent decades. The following is an example of a encouraging input to the environment: The automobile manufacturing industry uses up to 88 lb (40 kg) of adhesive and sealants in each vehicle. The chief objective of this is to save energy in the form of fuel by means of so-called “lightweight design”, whereby less mass has to be moved over the life span of the car and so means are saved (e.g. 3-liter car). On the other hand, the glues in this same illustration could load the environment if there are residues left over from the application and any cleaning. At the end of the lifecycle of the car, the glue that was used must not adversely affect the recycling procedure and must be disposed of in harmony with regulations. In order to determine the effects on the environment, an environmental assessment is carried out. The expected concentration in the atmosphere is calculated using a model. Simultaneously, the concentration at which no harm is expected to environmental organisms is determined. The calculation models and determination methods are laid down in global standards. An unfavorable effect on or harm to the environment can be excluded with sureness if the Predicted Environmental Concentration is less than the predicted concentration for which no harm to environmental organisms occurs (Predicted No-Effect Concentration), taking into account safety factors.
- Air: The release of organic solvents is harmful to air quality. As such, considerable efforts have been made by the adhesives industry over many years to switch to low-solvent adhesives and where possible solvent-free adhesives. There has been significant achievement, and this has also been beneficial for health protection. Bonding today is responsible for less than 3% of all the solvent emissions in Europe. The few large-scale uses in industry function with solvent-recovery plants.
- Water: With dispersion adhesives there is a specific risk of contaminating surface waters. Natural polymers and prepolymers, even though not easy to biodegrade, can be removed in biological treatment plants with the surplus sludge. The use of these adhesives in handicraft work, in the home and for DIY job usually results in only fairly small amounts of adhesive
ending up in large amounts of wastewater. As polymers typically have low toxicity for water organisms and due to the very low concentrations of adhesives in the wastewater, an adverse effect on the treatment plant and adjoining surface waters (outfall) is not expected in this case. In industry, residual adhesive and rinse water must be disposed of in accordance with waste legislation.
- Soil: When used by private individuals, liquid adhesive residues are usually collected in the dangerous waste collection containers, but are also often disposed of with the rest of the household waste.
The amounts involved here are though small. For industrial and commercial users, disposal necessarily be carried out in accordance with the so-called waste code numbers, which decide how the waste is disposed. Adhesive residues are normally disposed of as landfill or incinerated. Concerning the latter, particular contamination of the air by the incineration plants is not expected. The energy used in the production of the adhesives can be to some extent recovered here
Assessing The Environmental Effect of Adhesives
Production of Adhesives and Adhesives in Industrial Use:
In industry, residues of cured adhesives and also non-crosslinked and liquid adhesives occur as waste. The previous, as solid materials, are either directly passed on as waste for disposal, or are preferably passed on for recycling. In the least favorable environmental situation they are disposed of as landfill. They are though generally recycled, either via composting or for energy retrieval via incineration. Depending on how they have been treated, liquid adhesives are discharged with the wastewater and are either directly passed to a treatment plant or, if required, passed to a treatment plant after undergoing a particular pretreatment. There they are biodegraded or removed.
Adhesive in the Household:
Adhesives used in the home have to be measured in different groups. Solid adhesive waste from the home such as toughened paper or wood adhesive is usually disposed of with the rest of the household waste. Water is typically used to remove water-soluble, hardened adhesives in the home, for example for removing wallpaper paste. This adhesive-containing water is disposed of with the household wastewater via the water treatment plant. The adhesive components, e.g. fiber derivatives, which are dissolved to varying extents, can easily be eliminated under real environmental conditions, meaning that only very small amounts enter the outfall (water streams). When composting is used for recycling, cellulose decomposes slowly but completely - as known for plant materials.
Glues used in the home or around the home are uncovered to processes that can wash out the adhesive, such as rain. This means that a little amount of glue ends up in drain water and then directly enters surface waters.
Bearing in mind all the adhesives that are in use, the likely environmental concentration is determined. The most unfavorable scenario is assumed in order to make sure that all conceivable possibilities have been taken into account.
Outlook
Adhesives as a whole do not represent a major ecological problem. Nonetheless, cured and non-recyclable residues as well as surplus adhesive from applications are waste materials. These materials not only have to be disposed of, but also denote an unnecessary use of materials and resources. The theory of recyclable design, made possible by having removable bonded joints, will be important in the future. In addition technologies for separating bonded materials, a further challenge of bonding technology will be resource-friendly optimization of manufacturing and application processes. It will be necessary to incorporate non-removable adhesive into future recycling processes. This will mean that the adhesive to be used for manufacturing of a component will have to be customized to the recycling process at the end of the component’s lifetime.