Biodegradable cellulose adhesives could fix label recycling problem

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Petroleum-based adhesives are everywhere: bonding the wood and drywall in a construction project, holding together the joints of furniture, and even sticking labels to otherwise recyclable containers.

“The labels on a container are held up with petroleum-based glue. And because of that, even though you’re putting the container in the recycle bin, it will not get recycled,” says Patty Ferreira, MBA ’97, CEO and cofounder of Silvis Materials, which is combating this problem with its fully biodegradable cellulose adhesives.

When Ferreira began thinking about bio-based adhesives, in 2014, she started by modifying cellulose’s existing role as a stabilizer in adhesive emulsions and replicating the known adhesive properties of more expensive nanocellulose. Today, the formula can make adhesives from virtually every type of plant cellulose, and the MIT Startup Exchange (STEX) is helping Silvis work with packaging and construction companies to test the results.

She expects the adhesive to cut production emissions by up to 80% and use half the energy of fossil-based glues.

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