Dive Brief:
- Germany-based Henkel Corp.—a manufacturer of adhesives, sealants, and coatings—has partnered with TerraCycle for a new recycling program around its Loctite brand.
- Customers can purchase a postage-paid recycling box from TerraCycle and fill it with used adhesive containers to be mailed in.
- TerraCycle will thermally process the containers and turn them into new plastic products.
Dive Insight:
This new Adhesive Recycling Program has been billed as the first in the world for anaerobic adhesives. Henkel says it's one part of the company's goal to increase efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of products at every stage by 2030. Until now, used adhesive containers were only eligible for landfilling or incineration.
"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," TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky said in a statement.
TerraCycle has seemingly cornered the market on recycling challenging consumer products. Earlier this year it announced new "zero waste boxes" would be available through Staples' website for customers to fill with items not traditionally accepted in curbside recycling programs. Through this and other initiatives, the company has tackled hard-to-recycle items such as electronics, cigarette butts, coffee pods, auto parts, dog food bags, and many more.
