STICKING IT TO ‘EM: ADHESIVES & SEALANTS TRENDS TO STAY GLUED FOR

From advanced formulations to sustainability imperatives, the sealants and adhesives landscape continues advancing at a swift pace. Moving closer towards 2025, keynote speakers, futurists and industry consultants have spotlighted several notable trends influencing product development and manufacturing processes.

Biomaterials Drive Innovation

Environmentally conscious consumers and companies are fueling demand for greener building materials across industries. With health and ecosystem impacts top of mind, consultants anticipate plant-derived, minimally-processed and compostable ingredients like starch, cellulose and soy will increasingly replace predecessors derived from fossil fuels. Count on natural latex, bio-epoxies and tannin resin adhesives to gain significant market share over the next 24 months. The shift promises to transform everything from woodworking to construction.

Antimicrobial Solutions See Uptick

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, consultants have noted heightened attention to antimicrobial product performance from safety-conscious companies. They believe manufacturers will now seek to engineer long-lasting microbe-fighting properties into sealants, grouts, caulking and adhesives for healthcare, hospitality, education and retail spaces. Integrating silver ions, zinc particles and antimicrobial enzymes are a few approaches consultants foresee gaining prominence through 2025 to curb bacteria, viruses and mold.

Automated Application Advances

Amid labor shortages, consultants cite surging interest from manufacturers in automated equipment to apply adhesives and sealants with more precision and less waste. Robots promise streamlined production with exact bead sizes and spray patterns tailored to specific bonds and surfaces. Programmable logic controls further simplify adjusting settings between production jobs. By standardizing high-quality application, manufacturers can better optimize cured strength, drying times and end-product aesthetics.

Sustainability Becomes Imperative

Industry consultants widely agree that sustainable manufacturing practices will become cost of entry over the next few years rather than a value-add. Trends like lean operations, closed-loop recycling, greenhouse gas emission tracking, energy efficient facilities and responsible chemistry aligned to EPA Safer Choice standards promise to transform into industry norms. Companies not actively working to minimize their environmental impact risk reputation damage and revenue loss.

Smart Solutions Connect Products

Lastly, consultants foresee connected adhesive solutions gaining traction by 2025. Adding sensors, microprocessors and communication transmitters into containers allows tracking real-time epoxy curing rates, sealant temperature tolerances or expired shelf lives. paired mobile apps enable alerts for handling and alerts for product repair or replacement timing. While still a niche, consultants cite smart adhesives as an important emerging category improving quality assurance.