Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
Dr Hermann Onusseit from Onusseit Consulting will be contributing to the Bremer Klebtage2 022 with his presentation "How do adhesive applications influence the recycling of bonded structures? In doing so, he is providing important input on the question of how more sustainability can be achieved with technology. We spoke with him and asked three questions in advance. You can watch the entire lecture on 22 June 2022, the first day of the Bremer Klebtage 2022. This year, the Bremer Klebtage will once again take place as a presentation event at the ATLANTIC Hotel Universum in Bremen.
Dr Onusseit, you will be speaking at the Bremer Klebtage 2022 - who should definitely listen to your lecture "How do adhesive applications influence the recycling of bonded structures?"?
The lecture is primarily aimed at constructors, designers and producers. Sustainable action is being propagated by more and more companies today. However, as it is a very complex topic, very different things are often understood by "sustainable action". One important aspect is the use of the earth's resources. This is both a quantitative and a qualitative issue. On the one hand, as few natural resources as possible should be used for the products manufactured. On the other hand, the products should be usable for as long as possible. This is where the great potential of adhesive bonding technology lies. Intelligent material combinations reduce the quantitative use of materials (lightweight construction) and can increase the service life of the products (quality). However, the sustainability of a product or process must be considered over its entire life cycle. Therefore, in their work, constructors, designers and producers must know all the facts that have an influence on the sustainability balance of their actions. This is where the question of the title of my presentation comes into play: "How do adhesive applications influence the recycling of bonded structures?".
"Achieving more sustainability with technology" is the leading theme of our spring newsletter. What contribution can the recycling of bonded structures make here?
Intelligent, bonded material combinations help with the quality and quantity points already mentioned above. But even the best products eventually reach the end of their life. Therefore, the question arises as to the use of the waste. The best solution in terms of sustainability is to reuse the resources contained in the product with as little effort as possible, i.e. to recycle the products. Since recycling processes are usually structured in such a way that certain target materials are always sent for recycling, material combinations usually first require separation of the materials. In principle, this is also not a problem with bonded structures, although the effort required for this can be minimised if recycling is already considered in the design and construction phase of a product. In this way, a sustainable circular economy can be created.
You are not only an expert in the field of recycling adhesive bonded structures. What future developments can we expect beyond that in the context of adhesive technologies and sustainability?
Adhesive bonding enables a wide variety of materials to be joined together. Innovative combinations will lead to a further reduction in the quantitative use of materials. In addition, many resource-saving technologies can only be implemented with the help of adhesive bonding technology. We see this, for example, in modern energy solutions such as wind power and in the field of photovoltaics. In the future, we can expect many more developments that will only be successful on the basis of adhesive bonding technology.
Thank you very much for the interview, Dr Onusseit!