Bio-based Resin is the Future
As the depletion of fossil fuel reserves become more evident and the clamor for environmental protection grows louder in recent years, the world’s governments, industries, and consumer markets, find it diffficult to define their contributions and roles in preserving our ecology.
In the manufacturing industry, there has been a growing trend to utilize agricultural feedstock to replace the highly-petroleum-oriented chemistries of resin formulation. Although the use of bio-based resins- i.e., resins derived from plant-based feedstock has met initial resistance due to concerns on changing, costly processes and performance standards, recent maturing technologies have taken root and offer better promise in terms of performance and stability.
R & D in bio-based resins in the past decade has led to the numerous applications in paints ,plastics, foams, coatings, adhesives, printing inks, packaging, etc.. Soya- and corn-based alternatives are the prime outputs of US research, owing to the large-scale volume and production of these resources in the Americas; while U.K. alternative is based on rapeseed oil. In the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the coconut and palm oil provide the more viable alternative sources. Clearly, the trend is veering away from the petroleum-dependent resin manufacturing, to the able,and performing substitutes from renewable resources.