Adrian Brandt: The platform was set up in 2015. In my team, we do not develop final products, but we focus on renewable carbon-based raw materials. Our goal is to bring more products to the market that are based on renewable carbon. To achieve this, we consult departments and colleagues internally and build a network with suppliers, start-ups, and scientific institutes externally. Together, we not only want to research the materials of the future in a timely manner, but also increasingly bring renewable raw materials into our products that are already available today. We demonstrate what is possible and test how new adhesive solutions can be implemented. We also have a laboratory where we produce raw materials ourselves – proactively but also on request. We develop new technologies that make our adhesives better and can also fully meet future customer requests. To do this, for example, we use unique structures from nature to gain property advantages such as very good adhesion, chemical resistance, or UV stability. So, in short, the aim is to meet all customer requirements in the future with products based on renewable carbon.
Adrian Brandt: We want to develop adhesives with the highest possible proportion of renewable carbon because raw materials account for the largest share of our overall CO2 footprint. Our production itself accounts for only a small part. The CO2 footprint of a product can theoretically be reduced to almost zero if renewable energy is used across all steps of the process. This is an impossible goal to achieve with fossil raw materials. To give an example: in the electronics sector, we want to produce every polyurethane adhesive with at least 50 percent renewable carbon by 2025. On top of raw materials, we also want to offer solutions that enable recycling. For smartphones, for example, we want to ensure that the adhesives will hold everything together well. At the same time, we want to make sure that the adhesive can be easily detached to facilitate the recycling process.