Two recent legislations have a bearing on the adhesives and sealants industry. The first is the EU’s proposal for a new Ecodesign Regulation. The second proposal is a regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and for end-of-life of vehicles (‘ELV regulation proposal’). By Dimitrios Soutzoukis, FEICA

The importance of adhesives and sealants in terms of the legislation on circular economy and ecodesign. Image source: ipopa/AdobeStock

Both legislations have a bearing on the adhesives and sealants industry. FEICA, the Association of the European Adhesive & Sealant Industry, has addressed both regulations from its industry’s point of view, illustrating the importance of adhesives and sealants for a circular economy.

Adhesives in the regulation of end-of-life vehicles

In July 2023, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and end-of-life vehicles. The proposal describes various measures to increase the circularity of vehicles, including through vehicle design and an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system. In both in the requirements on vehicle design (‘circularity strategy’) as well in the requirements on EPR (‘fee modulation’), adhesives are mentioned explicitly as detrimental to end-of-life vehicle circularity and therefore to be considered as potential impediments in the vehicle design process and in the EPR fee setting.The explicit and generalised mention of adhesives as an impediment to the dismantling and recycling in the ELV regulation proposal is inaccurate as adhesives can allow for, and even enable, successful dismantling and recycling. In addition, the current wording constitutes an uneven playing field as other materials and bonding technologies, which may prevent dismantling and/or recycling, are not mentioned.

FEICA has published a paper which was submitted to the European Commission, as input to the development of this Regulation, outlining how the explicit and generalised mention of adhesives as an impediment to the circularity of end-of-life vehicles is inaccurate and that it misses the crucial role that adhesives play in the overall sustainability, the performance, and the safety of vehicles and the desired large-scale transition to electric mobility.

Adhesives are involved in the production and assembly of most components and parts of a vehicle, including the body, the windows, the drivetrain (of both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles), the suspension, the trim and the interior, and the electrical system, including the high voltage batteries of battery electric vehicles. They serve the principal function of bonding together parts or components in an optimal way, with a view to performance, durability, longevity, and crash safety. Adhesives also are the key to combining dissimilar materials, enabling for example light-weight designs such as mixed-metal vehicle bodies and carbon fibre reinforced structural components. In electric vehicles, adhesives provide crucial bonding solutions for the battery system.

Adhesives and sealants’ unique properties in electronics under the EU Ecodesign Regulation

The European Union Ecodesign Directive is a legislative file which is revised regularly and has been in effect since 2008. The proposal for a new EU Ecodesign Regulation is important for the adhesives and sealants industry as it involves regulatory standards for mobile phones, tablets and laptops, where adhesives and sealants play an important role. Since they exhibit unique properties in the electronics sector, adhesives and sealants can be adapted for usability, repairability and recyclability and make an improvement in terms of process efficiency, design optimisation and durability.

The EU requirements regarding ecodesign and resource efficiency over service life for such things as smartphones, cordless phones and slate tablets, include design for reliability (scratch resistance), design for repair (removable fasteners) and requirements for recycling (compatibility and traceability).

Electronics show particular reliability thanks our industry. Further clarification, however, is needed as regards the repair and recycling of electronic waste. Better communication across the value chain is necessary, and consumer awareness must be created.

In the adaptation of adhesives and sealants to promote the usability, repairability and recyclability of electronic devices, the key idea is that of a ‘trigger’ which can ‘switch off’ adhesion of the adhesive to the substrate. In general, this separation can take place because of a trigger in two ways: (1) Separation can occur by mechanical force supported by temperature; (2) separation can occur because of, for instance, light, temperature, electricity or magnetic fields.The European Commission intends a circular economy for plastics in order to avoid waste and to promote recycling. As a result, the EU-wide Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was established, which sets a goal for the recycling of electrical waste. In addition, the purpose of the ‘Plastics Strategy’ is to lessen environmental litter.

Against this backdrop, the role of adhesives is critical, for adhesives used in electronic products allow debonding of parts so that repairability and recycling, and so a circular economy, are possible.

The reversible bonding that is possible with regard to the battery of a smartphone currently considers different scenarios, ranging from no debonding of the battery plus the recycling of the phone (the least desirable), to debonding of the battery plus good maintenance of the phone (the most desirable). Various scenarios can be viewed from the three perspectives of function, environment, and economics. The best solution will come through the introduction of circular business models, but benefits will need to be fairly distributed between businesses and customers to create a win-win situation for both the environment and society.