Reversible, Renewable, Recycled Adhesives Have To Be The Future
Reversible, Renewable, Recycled Adhesives Have To Be The Future
The buzzwords for my generation (people try to put us down!) are of course sustainability, renew-ability and recycle-ability. Things are running out. Every time I hear them mentioned I become the warrior woman Boadicea, I want to wage war on anyone who isn’t embracing this issue at full throttle. However trying to explain the mega importance attached to the dynamics of recycling to my kids, who lets face it, are going to be the unenviable beneficiaries of an earth literally devoured by generations of wasters, users and resource chomping monsters is like banging my head against my green recycling bin, all pain and no gain!
My day began with a ‘can you please put the heating on its cold?’ ‘No’ I said in unison with my husband, (a rare show of mutual defiance) ‘put another jumper on and think of the worlds depleting resources!’ I shouted as if my life depended on it. But it fell on deaf ears, so whilst my kids were shoveling porridge into their mouths, I asked my kids to think about waste, and was promptly met with ‘I’ve changed my mind about this porridge, I don’t want it’ from my 12 year old….aarrgh!!!! Unthwarted I decided to take my soapbox to work and continue there.
The topic of resource efficiency is looming like the biggest tropical storm cloud to brace this side of the Universe. We have all heard of endangered species but what of our endangered resources? Raw materials are becoming more and more difficult to source, the bigger companies holding the monopoly and in the process throwing their millions at everyone in the vain hope of securing it all. Where does that leave us, the SME’s trying our best to survive in what can only be described as a double hit….he uncertainty of business AND resources….how do you come back from that? Things are running out (reiterated to mark the gravity of this fact), touch phone mobiles use an element called Indium, a rare earth metal, resources of this are finite along with the forty nine other elements used in mobile phones, including Gold. Wind turbines use magnets containing Niobium (rare as hens teeth my Senior Chemist informs me!). Recycling processes could allow Industry to reclaim these and many more endangered elements and allow them to be reintroduced at the manufacturing stage. All a bit too easy peasy you would think. Suddenly, the ear-worm planted by my 12 year old found its way to my brain, ‘mum can you recycle glue?’ A reversible, renewable, recycled adhesive….now that can’t be bad idea. Stick close.