As sustainability goals become more important for industrial and manufacturing companies, with many adopting 'zero-waste programs, it becomes more challenging to find new ways to hit each year’s targets.
Henkel, the manufacturer of LOCTITE® adhesives, and its global recycling partner TerraCycle have developed a program to help customers achieve their waste reduction goals by recycling the company’s signature red LOCTITE bottles. Henkel customers in Australia can now recycle their empty LOCTITE bottles simply by dropping them into a collection box. The empty bottles are treated and recycled into new plastic products, keeping LOCTITE containers out of landfills and incinerators. “Henkel’s commitment to leadership in sustainability is deeply embedded in our values”, said Daniel Rudolph, Head of Adhesive Technologies Henkel Australia and New Zealand. “I am excited to share with our customers our world first adhesive recycling program where in partnership with TerraCycle we offer an environmentally responsible path to dispose of their adhesive packaging for anaerobic.” Henkel is the first adhesive company to offer this type of recycling program. The program recycles LOCTITE anaerobic adhesive containers, which include threadlockers, thread sealants, gasketing products, and retaining compounds. With Henkel selling hundreds and thousands of bottles of anaerobic products a year in Australia, the potential for recycling is significant
How It Works
The program is simple: Henkel customers can register their expression of interest on the Loctite website, then a Henkel distributor or LOCTITE industrial sales representative will contact them shortly. The boxes includes pre-affixed return shipping labels. When the box is full, the customer seals the liner in the box and ships it to TerraCycle. At TerraCycle, the empty LOCTITE bottles are cryogenically or thermally treated to cure the adhesive residue. The bottles are then shredded and pelletised. The pellets are turned into new plastic products – everything from garbage cans to paving stones, park benches, and plastic yard furniture. TerraCycle, founded in 2001, is an industry leader in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste, ranging from used chip bags to coffee capsules and complex laboratory waste. The program is significant for TerraCycle as well, since it’s the first time the company has recycled adhesive containers. TerraCycle’s experts collaborated closely with Henkel’s chemists and R&D staff to determine that the LOCTITE bottles and residual anaerobic adhesives, once cured, could be 100 percent recycled. “We are breaking new ground with our Henkel partnership,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “This is the first time we have recycled this category, and we hope it will be an eye-opener to an industry that has previously not had an option to recycle adhesive containers.”
For more information on the Henkel program, visit www.loctite.com.au/recycleloctite. Information on TerraCycle is available at www.terracycle.com.au Henkel customers can recycle their empty LOCTITE bottles by purchasing these collection boxes. Henkel’s partner TerraCycle will treat the empty bottles, shred and pelletise them and turn them into new plastic products.