Innovation comes from everyone and from everywhere. As human beings we all share the same goal: to live in environments that are beautiful, wholesome, and more sustainable.
Esther Grau Zuriaga
Marketing Manager Industrial Wood & Automotive OEM
Challenge: smart choices for the world’s most important place
The home is probably the most important and personal place for every one of us. From the furniture we choose to the little electronic helpers that brighten up our everyday lives, we want our homes to be as cozy, attractive, and functional as possible, whilst avoiding any impact on our health and reducing our impact on the environment.
This is reflected in current consumer trends, such as a demand for surfaces that are durable and look good for longer – triggered not least by the sharing economy – and for natural, honest materials that give us a sense of comfort and belonging in our fast-moving world. At Covestro, we deliver the coatings and adhesives that enable producers and electronic appliance industries to cater to these fundamental needs in the furniture.
Status: provider of the inner values of future-oriented surfaces
While the popularity of wooden furniture has not diminished in recent years – quite on the contrary – consumers and legislators are no longer content with the chemicals traditionally used in wood coatings and lacquers, which are typically not waterborne and can contain higher levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Coatings based on our materials help to enhance and preserve the natural beauty of wood – as well as our environment and the health of those who work in the wood-processing industry. Take our patented fast-drying Bayhydur® quix hardener. It yields a high-performance water-based coating using low-VOC technology, generating lower emissions than solventborne solutions. Lower emissions can also be achieved with partially plant-based options like our Decovery® resin, which is also made to look and feel natural. This special material nourishes and protects your furniture whilst reducing environmental impact, providing performance and sustainability features at the same time.
However, increased sustainability shouldn’t just go hand in hand with a great look and feel, but also with efficiency. Powder coatings like Uralac® Ultra offer great potential when it comes to heat-sensitive substrates such as processed wood.
Apart from their contribution to wooden furniture, coating and adhesive technologies can also further the development of more sustainable mattresses and other foamed materials. With InFoam printing, a customized skeleton is injected into the mattress, improving its supporting properties without the need for added parts that are otherwise designed to improve sleeping comfort. And because the result is a monomaterial solution, no mixed materials need to be separated during the recycling process.
But our materials are not just limited to furniture and comfort products. They also act as hidden champions when it comes to making smartphones and other personal electronic devices more affordable and eco-friendlier. Our 2D-printed hot-melt adhesives simplify and speed up the assembly of complex electronics – and allow simple temperature-triggered disassembly once the device has reached the end of its life cycle.
Next: honing in on tomorrow’s living environments
We recognize the growing urgency and demand for sustainable solutions, as the industry calls for more product transparency and bio-based processes. That’s why it’s our constant goal to promote more sustainable initiatives that contribute significantly to the health and well-being of people and the earth.
