Sustainable development
In the transition pathway to an increasingly circular economy, adhesives and sealants contribute to product efficiency and circularity, creating a more sustainable society and tackling the ongoing climate crisis.
The use of adhesives and sealants in many sectors, including construction, automotive, and energy production, contributes to reducing the carbon footprint of a surprising number of everyday and advanced products and manufacturing processes, creating a 'new licence to do business in the 21st century'.
Supporting the EU aim to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions - FEICA members are looking into different end-of-life solutions, such as recycling processes like mechanical recycling, physical (dissolution) recycling and chemical recycling (chemolysis, pyrolysis, gasification, enzymolysis, etc.). Chemical recycling, as a recycling option, could enable circular value chains in industries and help to decouple from fossil raw material sources.
An overview of FEICA publications and guidance papers
- FEICA's position paper on the circular economy
- FEICA leaflet on Adhesives and Sealants: 'Enablers of a sustainable society'
- FEICA and Fraunhofer IFAM book ‘Adhesive Bonding Technology in the 21st Century - Synergy of Technological and Ecological Potentials’
Good practice stories
The adhesive and sealant industry is developing technologies to support a growing world population to live a better life and to use the planet’s resources responsibly and efficiently. Some examples of such innovations are documented in good practice stories, illustrating how companies run their business to improve sustainable operations; for example, by reducing energy and water consumption, and reducing emissions to the air, water and soil. To demonstrate this, FEICA is sharing examples of good practice. To see the contributions from our members, please see our Good Practice Stories page.
The European Union's 'European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform' also shares how companies run their business to improve sustainable operations and has featured some of the Good Practice stories published by FEICA.
The European Green Deal
The 'European Green Deal' places a central focus on the importance of circular economy policies as a part of Europe’s objective to transform into a climate-neutral continent by 2050.
See FEICA’s position on the EU Green Deal and Five Guiding Principles in support of a successful European Green deal, and find out how adhesives and sealants help to make it happen.
Events
On 14 October 2020, FEICA organised a webinar with the participation of MEP Maria Spyraki. Ms Spyraki, together with FEICA member companies (Henkel, Covestro), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and Construction Products Europe (CPE), shared views on the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) and the Renovation Wave, with examples of good practices from our industry. FEICA Secretary General, Kristel Ons, explained how adhesives and sealants are enablers of the EU Green Deal.
The proceedings are available here. A summary of the event is available for FEICA Members on the FEICA Extranet.