Adhesive and Coatings Firm Henkel Partnering with Materials Group Celanese to Work Captured Carbon into Emulsions

Captured carbon emissions, already repurposed in road materials and newer cement production, also is finding its way into other material industries.

Henkel Corp., a developer of adhesives and sealants, has joined with global chemical and speciality materials firm Celanese Corp. to work together on enhancing circularity in emulsion production by using carbon capture-based materials.

In early 2024, Celanese launched a carbon capture and utilization (CCU) project at its Clear Lake, Texas site, as part of its Fairway Methanol joint venture with Mitsui & Co. The CCU technology captures industrial CO2 emissions and converts them into methanol using hydrogen. This process forms 35 percent of vinyl acetate monomer, an element to produce polymers used in adhesive formulations.

As part of the partnership, Henkel will produce water-based adhesives made from captured CO2 emissions to create new opportunities for customers in the packaging and consumer goods sector as well as increase the renewable content of their products by keeping CO2 emissions in the production loop. The CCU-based adhesives will play an important role in driving sustainability across a wide range of applications due to the demand of products with lower environmental impact.

Especially the paper & board, envelopes & graphic arts, e-commerce, labeling and tissue & towel industries will benefit from CCU adhesives and the Henkel and Celanese partnership.

“Our CCU platform offers a compelling and scalable path to delivering sustainability into the adhesives market and we are continuing to work to develop solutions for a broad range of applications,” said Kevin Norfleet, Global Sustainability Leader at Celanese.

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