By Louis Iannaco
While the green movement may just be gaining mainstream momentum, adhesive manufacturers have been environmentally conscious for quite a while. The major challenge for these glue makers has been developing a strong and effective product while placing an emphasis on being environmentally friendly.

“The old adage, ‘What’s old is new again’ applies to the current and past environmental issues in regard to floor covering adhesives,” said Jack Raidy, president and CEO of W.F. Taylor. The company introduced solvent-free and low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) products in 1989 with the launch of its Envirotec line, the first solvent-free floor covering adhesives globally.

“We were the first to achieve Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label status and are now certified by the GreenGuard Environmental Institute,” he explained. “All these products qualify for LEED green building programs. New environmental initiatives are under way to further utilize renewable, sustainable and recyclable raw materials in adhesive production for our industry.

“Strong national and international adhesive manufacturers that can support floor covering mills with extensive research and development capabilities will be increasingly required to collaborate and partner with the scientists of progressive flooring manufacturers to achieve the environmental mandates of the future.”

Jeff Johnson, product manager for Mapei’s Floor Covering Installation Systems, agreed with Raidy in that adhesive producers have long been at the forefront of the green movement in the flooring industry. “Mapei has been a leader in the development of environmentally friendly adhesives. For almost 20 years, the company has been innovating its products to provide the best performance with the maximum environmental responsibility. This balancing act is not new to Mapei.”

John Lio, marketing manager for DriTac Flooring Products, believes producing green products is essential to the wood flooring industry. “Providing installers and homeowners with an environmentally friendly adhesive that will not force them to sacrifice performance is an invaluable tool. This is one of the biggest challenges our industry faces today. It takes the latest technology, a dedicated team of chemists and researchers, and state-of-the-art equipment to accomplish such lofty goals.”

Some specifics

Lio noted that with DriTac’s family of green adhesives and installation products for the wood flooring industry, the company now offers high quality, premium, green products completely free of all VOCs and solvents. In fact, he said DriTac has predicated its success on the ability to make durable adhesives with superior bonding strength that installers, contractors and homeowners desire.

“Bonding strength has never been an issue for DriTac adhesives. The two biggest challenges DriTac has faced are making our products environmentally friendly and as cost effective as possible.”

Lio told FCNews DriTac is the only adhesive manufacturer in the wood flooring industry that offers a moisture cure urethane adhesive that is completely solvent- and VOC-free. DriTac 7500 Eco-Urethane can be used to install numerous wood floors— amboo, exotic woods, multi-ply engineered plank, solid wood planks, acrylic impregnated wood, plain-back parquet and plywood.

USG’s Tile and Flooring Division has introduced Durock brand wood flooring adhesive, an environmentally friendly, high- erformance adhesive offering superior bond strength and outstanding troweling properties. The adhesive is designed for bonding wood flooring, tile and stone to all types of subfloor and vertical surfaces. Safe to use in confined areas, it contains no solvents, VOCs or Proposition 65-listed materials. Unlike other adhesives, Durock will not produce out-gassing, noted John Mandel, market manager, performance substrates and specialty division for USG.

“The product has a 20 to 30 minute working time and relies on humidity and ambient temperatures for curing,” he explained. “After the adhesive is applied, light foot traffic can resume in four to eight hours, while normal foot traffic typically can resume in 24 hours. It is easily cleaned up or removed using alcohol or mineral spirits.”

Taylor just introduced a wood flooring adhesive Raidy believes is ideal for those who place a strong focus on being green. “We’ve recently introduced our Meta-Tec MS Plus adhesive, a 100% solids, water, solvent and isocyanate free moisture cure adhesive for wood flooring. It’s manufactured with a proprietary advanced MS Polymer combined with Taylor’s patented Meta- ec cross-linking chemistry utilizing bio-based renewable oils and resins.”

Being solvent- and VOC-free is key for adhesive manufacturers in the quest to make their products safe for the environment. “Mapei has successfully developed its own urethane adhesives for wood that have superior bond strength compared to other adhesive choices such as water- or solvent-based materials,” Johnson said. “Their solvent-free base ensures these products are LEED compliant.”

Johnson noted that in the resilient category, Mapei has introduced Ultrabond ECO 360 for the installation of solid sheet vinyl flooring. “This adhesive is a hard-setting material that has bond strength approaching the levels of traditional two-component epoxy adhesives while containing zero VOCs and no hazardous components.”