The Future of Composites: Bio-based adhesives for a circular economy

Composite materials are known for their light weight and high strength. They contribute to European environmental goals by helping to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions. On the other hand, composites generate a lot of waste, of which only about 15% is currently recyclable in the EU. There is a need to extend the life of composites through innovative repair and reuse strategies.
Traditional repair methods for composites are usually based on conventional adhesives, most of which are derived from non-renewable fossil fuels. Once applied, these adhesives make it difficult to remove, repair, reuse and recycle the materials. This not only conserves raw materials, but also hinders the industry's sustainability efforts...
High time to look for sustainable adhesive solutions that enable easy separation of composite materials and components at the end of their lifecycle!
Does your company work with composites?
In this blog we present the BiDebA Project (BioBased Debondable Adhesives). We are currently leading this groundbreaking initiative within the Interreg North-West Europe framework.
With multiple partners in this project, we establish a collaboration between academia, industry and research institutes, in order to accelerate the innovation process and market acceptance:
Sustainable use of composites ...
To address the sustainability challenges regarding composites, we aim to develop high-performance bio-based detachable adhesives that meet industrial needs while protecting the environment.
We will be looking for adhesives based on renewable raw materials that are designed to be easily removable. In this way, we aim to improve the lifecycle of composite products by making it easy to separate and recycle components. This approach not only makes it easier to reuse and recycle composites, but also significantly reduces waste and dependence on non-renewable raw materials.
... tailored to industry
In this project, we are working with industrial partners from the transport sector: a sector that is one of the largest consumers of composite materials. This allows us to directly test the applicability of our research results. GMI AERO is an innovative player in the composite repair market. They have a wide range of repair equipment and products that they supply to the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and airlines. ACRATS stands for Advanced Composite Repair And Training Services. They offer top-notch services to aviation professionals.
With BiDebA, we will integrate our new adhesives into existing debonding and repair test setups to validate their effectiveness in realistic real-world scenarios. These collaborations ensure that our innovations are based on real industry needs and can be seamlessly integrated into existing production processes.
Coming soon
We are keen to share our research results with industry as soon as possible, to demonstrate the applications and benefits of these innovative adhesives. All sectors are welcome to attend our two workshops, where we will explain the new bio-based composition of the new adhesives and demonstrate the removability of the adhesives. During our closing event we will demonstrate the repair of a non-structural composite structure using our bio-based adhesives.