(Press-News.org) An innovative new adhesive, derived from purified and refined industrial bio-waste, should enable 90 percent of engineered wood products, such as furniture and construction boards, to become fully recyclable and helping to develop a sustainable circular economy in this sector.
Currently, formaldehyde adhesives used by manufacturers, are toxic petrochemicals that are carcinogenic in nature. This prevents recycling and incineration meaning most construction panels and furniture made from engineered wood ends up in landfill. The new adhesive, derived from extracted and purified waste is sustainable, non-toxic and possesses a step-change improvement in recyclability and circularity.
BindEthics, the sustainable glue company behind this innovation was founded by Maria Garcia, a chemist with an MSc in molecular design from the University of Amsterdam and Callum Smith a 21 year old materials engineer from Esher UK, who is completing an integrated Masters (MEng Material Science and Engineering) at the University of Birmingham. BindEthics has won the Armourers & Brasiers Venture Prize seed funding award.
“Our glue is ethically sourced, has end-of-life biodegradability and has properties suited to replacing traditional formaldehyde adhesives,” says Callum Smith. “As well as being fully recyclable the glue can be produced with almost no additional cost to the manufacturer and has a carbon footprint that is 86 percent lower than traditional adhesives.”
BindEthics first explored the possibility of a base formulation for their adhesive derived entirely from waste in 2021. This included the purification of industrial food waste by washing, filtration and centrifugation. High protein content and polysaccharides contribute to binding while other natural crosslinkers and bioderived solvents are present in the formulation. In 2022 preliminary trials conducted at the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) in York were backed up by analytical experimental studies enabling the development of the first minimum viable product.
BindEthics is currently working with one of the three largest engineered wood companies in the UK and one of the UK’s largest packaging companies for technical insight. The company has several Letters of Intent from relevant partners including a European distributor.
“Our next step is to identify and conduct further commercial trials with companies which are currently using toxic and synthetic adhesives,” said Callum Smith. “A particular opportunity is with the corrugated board industry which is looking for alternatives to their starch-based adhesives which use borates, toxic substances imported into the UK. We are currently identifying companies using these starch-based adhesives, who wish to minimise their environmental impact, so they can trial our product.”
BindEthics has received commercial, scale-up and lab-based support from the Biorenewables Development Centre in York under their European Regional Development Programme business assist scheme and Innovate UK. Additionally, it is receiving network access, business space and financial aid from the University of Birmingham and Innovate UK which help accelerate the innovation.
The particle board industry in the UK alone currently uses 1000 tons per day of urea-formaldehyde adhesive valued at £388 million annually. Globally, the value of the urea-formaldehyde market is £9.5 billion.
“BindEthics is showing how research and innovation has the potential to improve the recyclability of modern furniture and construction panels,” said Julian Beare, Chairman of the Armourers and Brasiers Venture Prize judging panel. “Our prize looks to encourage scientific entrepreneurship in the UK and provide funding to help innovative developments like this realise their potential.”
“Our vision is that our new bio-adhesive derived from food waste will replace a range of adhesives used across industry,” said Callum Smith. “The initial focus is on replacing the formaldehyde-based glues used in the manufacture of engineered wood products, but we also envisage applications for our sustainable adhesive within the shoe and automotive industries.”
An innovative new adhesive, derived from purified and refined industrial bio-waste, should enable 90 percent of engineered wood products, such as furniture and construction boards, to become fully recyclable and helping to develop a sustainable circular economy in this sector.
Currently, formaldehyde adhesives used by manufacturers, are toxic petrochemicals that are carcinogenic in nature. This prevents recycling and incineration meaning most construction panels and furniture made from engineered wood ends up in landfill. The new adhesive, derived from extracted and purified waste is sustainable, non-toxic and possesses a step-change improvement in recyclability and circularity.
BindEthics, the sustainable glue company behind this innovation was founded by Maria Garcia, a chemist with an MSc in molecular design from the University of Amsterdam and Callum Smith a 21 year old materials engineer from Esher who is completing an integrated Masters (MEng Material Science and Engineering) at the University of Birmingham. BindEthics has won the Armourers & Brasiers Venture Prize seed funding award.
“Our glue is ethically sourced, has end-of-life biodegradability and has properties suited to replacing traditional formaldehyde adhesives,” says Callum Smith. “As well as being fully recyclable the glue can be produced with almost no additional cost to the manufacturer and has a carbon footprint that is 86 percent lower than traditional adhesives.”
BindEthics first explored the possibility of a base formulation for their adhesive derived entirely from waste in 2021. This included the purification of industrial food waste by washing, filtration and centrifugation. High protein content and polysaccharides contribute to binding while other natural crosslinkers and bioderived solvents are present in the formulation. In 2022 preliminary trials conducted at the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) in York were backed up by analytical experimental studies enabling the development of the first minimum viable product.
BindEthics is currently working with one of the three largest engineered wood companies in the UK and one of the UK’s largest packaging companies for technical insight. The company has several Letters of Intent from relevant partners including a European distributor.
“Our next step is to identify and conduct further commercial trials with companies which are currently using toxic and synthetic adhesives,” said Callum Smith. “A particular opportunity is with the corrugated board industry which is looking for alternatives to their starch-based adhesives which use borates, toxic substances imported into the UK. We are currently identifying companies using these starch-based adhesives, who wish to minimise their environmental impact, so they can trial our product.”
BindEthics has received commercial, scale-up and lab-based support from the Biorenewables Development Centre in York under their European Regional Development Programme business assist scheme and Innovate UK. Additionally, it is receiving network access, business space and financial aid from the University of Birmingham and Innovate UK which help accelerate the innovation.
The particle board industry in the UK alone currently uses 1000 tons per day of urea-formaldehyde adhesive valued at £388 million annually. Globally, the value of the urea-formaldehyde market is £9.5 billion.
“BindEthics is showing how research and innovation has the potential to improve the recyclability of modern furniture and construction panels,” said Julian Beare, Chairman of the Armourers and Brasiers Venture Prize judging panel. “Our prize looks to encourage scientific entrepreneurship in the UK and provide funding to help innovative developments like this realise their potential.”
“Our vision is that our new bio-adhesive derived from food waste will replace a range of adhesives used across industry,” said Callum Smith. “The initial focus is on replacing the formaldehyde-based glues used in the manufacture of engineered wood products, but we also envisage applications for our sustainable adhesive within the shoe and automotive industries.”
END
World’s first glue derived from industrial bio-waste will make furniture recyclable
Wins Armourers Venture Prize Award
2023-06-28
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
McMaster University team discovers hormonal pathway that increases calorie burning during weight loss
2023-06-28
Hamilton, ON (June 28, 2023) - Researchers led by McMaster University professor Gregory Steinberg and postdoctoral research fellow Dongdong Wang have uncovered a key mechanism for promoting weight loss and maintaining the burning of calories during dieting.
The research team studied a hormone called GDF15 that they had previously shown to reduce appetite in response to the type 2 diabetes drug metformin. Their latest findings, published in Nature on June 28, showed that GDF15 also has the potential to help with weight loss.
The research opens new possibilities to help people maintain weight loss ...
Cuttlefish camouflage: more than meets the eye
2023-06-28
Cuttlefish, along with other cephalopods like octopus and squid, are masters of disguise, changing their skin color and texture to blend in with their underwater surroundings.
Now, in a study published 28 June in Nature, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research have shown that the way cuttlefish generate their camouflage pattern is much more complex than previously believed.
Cuttlefish create their dazzling skin patterns by precisely controlling millions of tiny skin pigment cells, ...
Outcomes of financial penalties to encourage hospital price transparency
2023-06-28
About The Study: Hospital compliance with federal price transparency regulations is high and increasing. The results of this study suggest that financial penalties may be a useful policy enforcement mechanism in health care. These findings are relevant for the enforcement of other regulations designed to promote transparency in health care.
Authors: Yunan Ji, Ph.D., of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...
Brain volume changes in aging individuals with normal cognition
2023-06-28
About The Study: In this study of adults without dementia, age-dependent brain structure volumes and volume change rates in various brain structures were characterized using serial magnetic resonance imaging scans. These findings clarified the normal distributions in the aging brain, which are essential for understanding the process of age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Authors: Shohei Fujita, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Tokyo, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18153)
Editor’s Note: Please ...
Long-range neuronal connections drive glioblastoma invasion
2023-06-28
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and lethal form of brain tumor. Despite treatment, GBM recurrence is inevitable and tends to occur outside surgical margins or in locations remote to the primary tumor, highlighting the central role played by tumor infiltration in this malicious disease.
Little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms driving GBM infiltration, but in a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine working with animal models reveal a novel process by which neurons in locations remote to the primary tumor provoke expression of genes from gliomblastoma that subsequently ...
Largest-ever atlas of normal breast cells brings unprecedented insights into mammary biology
2023-06-28
HOUSTON ― A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, University of California, Irvine and Baylor College of Medicine has created the world’s largest and most comprehensive map of normal breast tissue, providing an unprecedented understanding of mammary biology that may help identify therapeutic targets for diseases such as breast cancer.
The Human Breast Cell Atlas, published today in Nature, used single-cell and spatial genomic methods to profile more than 714,000 cells from 126 women. The breast atlas highlights 12 major cell types ...
Research breakthrough could be significant for quantum computing future
2023-06-28
Scientists using one of the world’s most powerful quantum microscopes have made a discovery that could have significant consequences for the future of computing.
Researchers at the Macroscopic Quantum Matter Group laboratory in University College Cork (UCC) have discovered a spatially modulating superconducting state in a new and unusual superconductor Uranium Ditelluride (UTe2). This new superconductor may provide a solution to one of quantum computing’s greatest challenges.
Their finding has been published in the prestigious journal Nature.
Lead author Joe Carroll, a PhD researcher working with UCC Prof. of Quantum Physics Séamus Davis, explains the subject of the paper.
“Superconductors ...
Researchers uncover new CRISPR-like system in animals that can edit the human genome
2023-06-28
A team of researchers led by Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT has uncovered the first programmable RNA-guided system in eukaryotes — organisms that include fungi, plants, and animals.
In a study in Nature, the team describes how the system is based on a protein called Fanzor. They showed that Fanzor proteins use RNA as a guide to target DNA precisely, and that Fanzors can be reprogrammed to edit the genome of human cells. The compact Fanzor systems have the potential to be more easily delivered to cells and tissues as therapeutics than CRISPR/Cas systems, ...
Starlight and the first black holes: researchers detect the host galaxies of quasars in the early universe
2023-06-28
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed, for the first time, starlight from two massive galaxies hosting actively growing black holes – quasars – seen less than a billion years after the Big Bang. A new study in Nature this week finds the black holes have masses close to a billion times that of the Sun, and the host galaxy masses are almost one hundred times larger, a ratio similar to what is found in the more recent universe. A powerful combination of the Subaru Telescope and the JWST has paved a new path to study the distant universe.
The existence of such massive black holes in the distant universe has created more questions ...
Life after death: Hawaiʻi astronomers find a planet that shouldn’t exist
2023-06-28
Maunakea, Hawaiʻi - When our Sun reaches the end of its life, it will expand to 100 times its current size, enveloping the Earth. Many planets in other solar systems face a similar doom as their host stars grow old. But not all hope is lost, as astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (UH IfA) have made the remarkable discovery of a planet’s survival after what should have been certain demise at the hands of its sun.
The Jupiter-like planet 8 UMi b, officially named Halla, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Early adult mortality is higher than expected in US post-COVID
Recycling lithium-ion batteries cuts emissions and strengthens supply chain
Study offers new hope for relieving chronic pain in dialysis patients
How does the atmosphere affect ocean weather?
Robots get smarter to work in sewers
Speech Accessibility Project data leads to recognition improvements on Microsoft Azure
Tigers in the neighborhood: How India makes room for both tigers and people
Grove School’s Arthur Paul Pedersen publishes critical essay on scientific measurement literacy
Moffitt study finds key biomarker to predict KRASG12C inhibitor effectiveness in lung cancer
Improving blood transfusion monitoring in critical care patients: Insights from diffuse optics
Powerful legal and financial services enable kleptocracy, research shows
Carbon capture from constructed wetlands declines as they age
UCLA-led study establishes link between early side effects from prostate cancer radiation and long-term side effects
Life cycles of some insects adapt well to a changing climate. Others, not so much.
With generative AI, MIT chemists quickly calculate 3D genomic structures
The gut-brain connection in Alzheimer’s unveiled with X-rays
NIH-funded clinical trial will evaluate new dengue therapeutic
Sound is a primary issue in the lives of skateboarders, study shows
Watch what you eat: NFL game advertisements promote foods high in fat, sodium
Red Dress Collection Concert hosted by Sharon Stone kicks off American Heart Month
One of the largest studies on preterm birth finds a maternal biomarker test significantly reduces neonatal morbidities and improves neonatal outcomes
One of the largest studies of its kind finds early intervention with iron delivered intravenously during pregnancy is a safe and effective treatment for anemia
New Case Western Reserve University study identifies key protein’s role in psoriasis
First-ever ethics checklist for portable MRI brain researchers
Addressing 3D effects of clouds for significant improvements of climate models
Gut microbes may mediate the link between drinking sugary beverages and diabetes risk
Ribosomes team up in difficult situations, new technology shows
Mortality trends among adults ages 25-44 in the US
Discontinuation and reinitiation of dual-labeled GLP-1 receptor agonists among us adults with overweight or obesity
Ultraprocessed food consumption and obesity development in Canadian children
[Press-News.org] World’s first glue derived from industrial bio-waste will make furniture recyclableWins Armourers Venture Prize Award