NZBIO award for new ‘green’ glue for wood products

For Immediate Release

16 September 2016

NZBIO award for new ‘green’ glue for wood products

Scion’s environmentally-friendly bioadhesives technology was awarded Biotechnology of the Year at NZBIO’s annual conference yesterday.

Dr Will Barker, Chief Executive of NZBIO, said “the technology is a game changer for wood panel manufacturers”.

The Scion bioadhesives team, led by Warren Grigsby, has developed a world first 100 per cent biobased adhesive and resins for engineered wood products. Made from natural sources, such as forestry and agricultural waste, these adhesives and resins are petrochemical-free, have very low formaldehyde emissions and can be made and used in existing manufacturing operations.

“We are thrilled to receive this award. It’s a great acknowledgement. We’ve spent years mixing and matching assorted ingredients to come up with right recipe. This is the icing on the cake,” says Warren.

The technology, which has been over seven years in the making, has been trademarked and patented as ‘Ligate’.

“The ‘green’ credentials of Ligate products will provide manufacturers with a competitive advantage over wood processors using conventional petrochemical-based adhesives and resins.

“Adhesives and resins made from natural sources have a lower environmental footprint and are considered more socially acceptable than their traditional formaldehyde-based counterparts,” says Warren.

The technology has already attracted international interest, and next week Warren travels to Europe to further profile the technology at two international conferences.

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More information about this technology:

http://pureadvantage.org/news/2016/07/28/new-glue-new-zealand-solution-sticky-problem/ ">http://www.scionresearch.com/general/publications/scion-connections/previous-issues/past-issues-list/issue-19,-march-2016/taking-our-bioadhesive-technology-to-industry

http://pureadvantage.org/news/2016/07/28/new-glue-new-zealand-solution-sticky-problem/

Scion (a New Zealand Crown research institute) undertakes research, science and technology development for the forestry, wood product, wood-derived materials and other biomaterial sectors. Formerly the NZ Forest Research Institute, Scion employs approximately 300 people and has its head office in Rotorua. For more information, please visit www.scionresearch.com

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