Sustainability
tesa is continuously researching and developing new technologies and products to get it just right. From the initial steps to quantum leaps towards a sustainable future, everything lies in the hands – and heads – of our 600 in-house specialists around the world. They bear great responsibility, for example, when it comes to finding and creating backing materials that are more environmentally friendly.
Our goal is to achieve the perfect result. We find ways to do this.
Chief Technology Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer
Back to the roots, back to future – both bio-based and recycled raw materials that already have their roots in plastic products used in private homes and industry have excellent prospects at tesa. tesa has already committed to increasing the share of recycled and bio-based materials used to 70 percent and significantly reducing CO₂ emissions by 2030.
What are the “natural” limits to chemistry in this regard and how can they be overcome? Why is it so complicated to make the move back to nature? A project team has been tackling these issues for quite some time now – and has already found an exciting answer in cooperation with a large number of stakeholders.
As tesa does not produce all important backing materials combined with adhesive to create adhesive tape in-house, there is a great deal of interest in ensuring that sustainable innovations in the industry for film, foams, paper backing, fabric, non-woven material and even laminates are also a precise fit for tesa’s adhesive solutions.“For this reason, we collaborate closely with a wide range of partners. Either they already have solutions in their portfolio that meet our specific requirements or we want to work with them to develop formulas tailored to our needs,” says Dr. Ingrid Sebald, who is responsible for product and technology development at tesa. “In this regard, we really are a pioneer for these adhesive systems.”
In trial and pilot facilities, tesa tests the suitability of these and other materials for many of tesa’s 7,000+ products. Bio-based and recycled materials are promising backing materials.
Alternative mediums such as PLA film (based on natural cornstarch) or from recycled paper and recycled PET film (made from post-consumer plastic waste such as water bottles) are now commercially available and have already been incorporated into various tesa products following extensive test phases.
More complex film made from recycled materials is yet to be developed. “The building blocks we use are often already quite specific and therefore require particular backing materials,” explains Dr. Sebald. Quality is crucial for these, but it is not always possible to find recycled materials that meet the requirements. “We test everything available until we achieve the perfect result.”
tesa has set itself the goal of significantly increasing product sustainability and is working on this every day. Over the next few years, for example, we will be developing many new products that make a sustainable contribution to our top product ranges in the automotive, electrical, and construction industries, as well as for our consumers in the office and home. In doing so, we are focusing on the reduction of non-recycled fossil plastics and will increasingly use recycled and bio-based materials.
