With the rising implementation of strict environmental regulations in several countries, on account of the growing pollution levels and environmental degradation, the sales of bio-based adhesives are picking up rapidly across the world. In the recent times, the governments of many countries have enacted stringent regulations that limit the usage of petrochemical-based adhesives. This has, in turn, fueled the requirement for eco-friendly alternatives such as bio-based adhesives, which are naturally produced unlike the petrochemical ones.
Besides the aforementioned factors, the rising requirement for wood-based and personal care products are also boosting the sales of bio-based adhesives across the globe. Furthermore, the rapid technological advancements being made and the extensive research and development (R&D) activities being conducted in the biotechnology industry are causing the swift development of highly advanced bio-based adhesives that can be used in packaging applications. These adhesives are being increasingly used for the production of tapes, labels, multi-layer films, and cardboard boxes.
These adhesives are extremely durable and have high elasticity. Additionally, they are very environment-friendly and significantly improve the product performance in the packaging industry. Moreover, with the boom of the global packaging industry, the requirement for these adhesives will soar in the coming years. The other major factor pushing up the demand for bio-based adhesives is the surging disposable income of people, especially in the developing countries around the world.
The increasing spending power of people is augmenting the sales of various wooden products, in which, the bio-based adhesives are used quite heavily. Hence, due to the ballooning sales of these adhesives all over the world, the global bio-based adhesives market is growing at an explosive pace and will exhibit huge expansion in the future years. Historically, the usage of the plant-based adhesives was observed to be considerably higher than the animal-based ones, mainly because of their lower processing costs.
In addition to their lower costs of processing, the plentiful availability of various plant-sourced raw materials such as starch, corn, and soy massively pushed up the global demand for these adhesives during the last few years. These adhesives were used extensively in the packaging and paper applications in the years gone by, primarily because of the high public awareness about the various sustainable and eco-friendly packaging solutions based on bio-based sources.
In the past, these adhesives were used heavily in cigarette filters, specialty and flexible packaging, printed sheet laminations, and various other applications as sustainable packaging solutions. Furthermore, because of the eco-friendly characteristics of these adhesives, they are being increasingly used in the medical industry in the domains of wound care and transdermal drug delivery. Globally, the European bio-based adhesives market was very lucrative in the past, as per the findings of P&S Intelligence, a market research company based in India.
The main factor that caused the boom of this industry in Europe in the last few years is the high requirement for bio-based adhesives in the packaging industry of several European nations such as the Netherlands and Germany. Further, the sales of these adhesives were very high in North America in the past years, due to the rapid surge of various end-use industries, rapid growth in local manufacturing, and the existence of numerous domestic bio-based adhesives producers in the region.
Therefore, it can be said with conviction that the popularity of bio-based adhesives will go up across the world in the forthcoming years, mainly because of the rising public awareness about the pollution caused due to the usage of petrochemical-based adhesives, the implementation of strict regulations in several countries, and the rising consumer preference for eco-friendly adhesives over the synthetic ones all over the world.