Ingevity Corporation has announced that a study conducted by consulting firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM) determined that the carbon-negative properties of the pine-based raw materials in its WestRez 5101 tackifier adhesive completely offset the volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released during manufacture — generating a carbon footprint 12% lower than petroleum-based alternatives.
Learn more about Ingevity’s WestRez 5101 adhesive here.
The study also estimates WestRez technology is even more beneficial when considering the end-life of a construction adhesive, generating a 62% lower carbon footprint than alternatives, even if an end-use product is landfilled.
“The ERM study is a powerful testament to the superior environmental benefits of Ingevity’s pine-based chemistries throughout the product lifecycle,” said Rich White, senior VP, Performance Chemicals, and president, Industrial Specialties and Pavement Technologies. “As a company with a global presence, we aim to be a responsible steward of our environment and will continue to provide renewable solutions that help customers advance their sustainability goals and meet the preferences of end-use consumers.”
Typically used in packaging, tapes, labels, and construction adhesive applications, WestRez 5101 was launched in 2008 as part of Ingevity’s Performance Chemicals portfolio of bio-based chemistries created from crude and tall oil-rosin renewable co-products of the paper-making industry.
According to the ERM study, the 2.75 metric tons (MT) of carbon pulled from the atmosphere and stored in the pine tree during tree growth outbalance the 2.23 MT of carbon released with the energy use, packaging and other outputs associated with WestRez manufacture, leaving a negative carbon footprint that poses zero climate-change impact.
White added that ERM’s study considered a variety of end-of-life impacts to determine potential comparative environmental benefits. Due to the pine tree-based origin of the product, the carbon released at the end of the WestRez lifecycle — whether through incineration, recycling, or landfilling of the consumer product — does not contribute to climate change.
ERM estimated the carbon footprint for WestRez, including end-of-life emissions, is 62% lower than the carbon footprint of petroleum-based alternatives.
ERM is a global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social and sustainability-related consulting services, and relied on the IPCC 2013 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method to calculate the product’s GHG emissions to assess climate-change potential. This approach is consistent with the assumptions of the LCIA study conducted by Franklin Associates for the American Chemistry Council Pine Chemistry Panel. ERM used the Franklin Associates study as the source of carbon-footprint data for the tall oil-rosin input.
This is the third study in Ingevity’s ongoing review of the environmental impacts of its major product lines.
For more information on ERM’s net product benefit study of WestRez 5101, please visit the sustainability page on Ingevity’s website.
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