Many segments of the textile industry rely on adhesives and binders that securely hold a product together, in one way or another. From automotive, medical, hygiene and more, this seemingly invisible technology contributes to the critical success of products that are used by consumers daily. Adhesive and binding solutions are undergoing their own epiphany in the research and development to support the advancement of the products that utilize them, and industry wrestles with sustainability, durability and circularity.
IFJ highlights several companies who share their most recent news in our first edition of the IFJ Adhesives and Binding Roundup.
Jowat Corporation is proudly announcing the expansion of our biobased adhesive technology into the textile and product assembly markets. This biobased adhesive technology, known as GROW, replaces a high percentage of fossil-based ingredients with renewable resource ingredients for improved sustainability. This GROW biobased technology has been successfully used for two years in the packaging industry, and is now being offered for adhesives in the textile and other industries.
With GROW technology, Jowat is able to provide adhesive with up to 47% biobased content, and new formulas are being tested which will exceed 50% Biobased content. For a customer using 10,000 lbs. of adhesive per month, a Biobased adhesive can eliminate nearly 50,000 lbs. of fossil fuel-based ingredients, replacing them with renewable resource- based ingredients.
While this improved sustainability is a welcome result, perhaps the most notable development is that this biobased adhesive requires no change in performance or processing requirements over fossil-based hot melt adhesive. It requires no change in equipment and is a drop-in replacement for fossil-based adhesives.
“Sustainability has been an increasingly popular adhesive topic for several years, but has remained a challenge since most options require expensive upgrades to equipment of complicated processing changes,” said John Elder, VP Sales. “This biobased adhesive is the first real world solution, where manufacturers can substantially improve their manufacturing sustainability, immediately and without disruption to their existing adhesive application.”
This technology was initially proven successful in the packaging industry, where the GROW biobased adhesive has been recognized as USDA Biobased Certified – the only hot melt adhesive to achieve this designation. This sustainability technology is now available to hot melt adhesive users in textile lamination and assembly applications, where Jowat can offer both biobased and recyclable hot melt adhesive technologies.
“Sustainability and concern for the environment is a topic that will only grow in importance for the manufacturing world,” said John Elder. Biobased adhesive can significantly reduce the use of fossil fuel, and these new developments finally offer a solution that performs without compromise.
For more information about biobased hot melt adhesive for improved sustainability, please contact Jowat Corporation at info@jowat.com, or visit us online at www.jowat.com.
