RT Journal Article
T1 Cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment of bio-adhesives for the wood panel industry. A comparison with petrochemical alternatives
A1 Arias Calvo, Ana
A1 González García, Sara
A1 González Rodríguez, Sandra
A1 Feijoo Costa, Gumersindo
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
K1 Bio-based adhesives
K1 Environmental impacts
K1 Life cycle assessment
K1 Petrol-based adhesives
K1 Sustainability
AB The wood panel industry requires the introduction of more environmental-friendly adhesives due to the strict current regulations on formaldehyde-based emissions. The purpose of this study was to environmentally analyse the production of four different bio-adhesives as alternatives to the most conventional fossil resins used in the production of wood panels. The bio-adhesives proposed for analysis derived from different available renewable biopolymers such as protein (soy) and lignin (Kraft and Organosolv), as well as tannin. The production systems were evaluated from a cradle-to-gate perspective using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, with the aim of identifying critical parameters and comparing them with fossil substitutes. Inventory data of bio-adhesives were modelled at large scale from lab scale experiments and completed with literature reports. Our results showed that the soy-based and tannin based bio-adhesive had an overall better profile than fossil resins, identifying the production of polyacrylamide for the former, and the production of condensed tannin and glyoxal for the latter, as the main environmental hotspots. In contrast, further research is required on the use of lignins, specifically because of the electricity requirements in the lignin glyoxalation stage (a process required for the functionalization of lignin). Sensitivity analyses were conduced on these key parameters suggesting that there is room for improvement.This study provides useful information for researchers and policy-makers on where to focus their activities with the aim of making the future of bio-adhesives more technically and environmentally favourable.
PB Elsevier
SN 1879-1026
YR 2020
FD 2020-06-18
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39245
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39245
LA eng
NO Arias, A., González-García, S., González-Rodríguez, S., Feijoo, G., Moreira, M.T., 2020. Cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment of bio-adhesives for the wood panel industry. A comparison with petrochemical alternatives. Science of the Total Environment, 738, 140357
NO Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant reference RYC-2014-14984)
NO Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC 2013-032)
NO CRETUS Strategic Partnership (AGRUP2015/02)
DS Minerva
RD 4 may 2026