Enabling low-carbon development in the office furniture industry
- Deepen local cooperation in the Chinese market to promote the circular economy
- Alternative raw materials support the transformation of the furniture industry and China’s carbon neutral ambitions
Shanghai, China – H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL), a leading global adhesives provider, together with Covestro, one of the world’s largest polymer suppliers, the office furniture manufacturer Sunon and industrial chain partners Zhanchen New Materials, Huafon Microfiber, Sinomax Kuka announced that they have recently signed in China the “Green and Sustainable Office Furniture Strategic Collaboration” agreement to promote the commercialization of innovative circular materials, reduce the carbon footprint of products, and support the low-carbon development of office furniture industry.
Led by Convestro and Sunon Research Center, the collaboration expands across the mentioned industry chain players and focuses on the application and commercialization of bio-based and waterborne coatings, biomass foams, microfiber materials, furniture adhesives, as well as post-industrial recycled polycarbonate materials.
Chen Yuanfang, vice president of Sunon Group Co., Ltd., said: “Sunon has always been committed to providing solutions for safe, environmentally-friendly, comfortable and intelligent office and commercial spaces. We have created better places to work by weaving workplace wellbeing into the fabric of our company’s mission and the entire lifecycle of furniture manufacturing, led by our pursuit of high-tech, natural and healthy products. This perfectly aligns with Covestro’s aim to usher in the circular economy. In order to create healthy workspaces for customers, we continue to promote environmental protection upgrades and innovative applications of sustainable materials to meet the market’s demand for low-carbon and environmentally-friendly office furniture. By working with Covestro and other partners in the industry chain to create new sustainable solutions, we expect to accelerate our industry’s green transformation.”
“The world around us is changing rapidly, so companies like H.B. Fuller, must be good stewards of the planet’s finite resources, while at the same time, contributing to human development and progress. We are very glad to work with this group of well-known manufacturing companies to jointly promote sustainable development and circularity in the furniture industry,” said Du Xinyu, H.B. Fuller Asia Pacific vice president, Engineering Adhesives. “By increasing R&D investment and utilization ratio of alternative raw materials and expanding local production capacity, we are actively promoting the transformation of innovation solutions and meeting the market demands by helping customers develop safer, more efficient and sustainable products.”
Low carbon emission and high production efficiency office and household adhesive
The adhesive business has been relying mainly on fossil-based chemicals to manufacture products. Now, this global adhesive player possesses the ability to replace isocyanates from the reactive hot melt adhesives with the mass-balanced approach from Covestro, which helps to lower CO2 emissions.
H.B. Fuller uses high-quality biomass raw materials and advanced formulation technology to implant into non-reactive and reactive hot melt adhesives. The process can play a major role in driving the circular economy forward, reducing CO2 emissions and replacing the extraction of finite resources with renewable raw materials, without compromising the performance of traditional hot melt adhesives.
The company also offers reactive hot melt products with low monomer content with less than 0,1%, that qualify for label-free packaging, providing a sustainable development plan for a healthy and safe production environment. It can be used for edge banding, flat lamination, profile wrapping, book binding, automotive, and assembly of office furniture and other home furniture.
About H.B. Fuller:
Since 1887, H.B. Fuller has been a leading global adhesives provider focusing on perfecting adhesives, sealants, and other specialty chemical products to improve products and lives. With fiscal 2021 net revenue of $3.3 billion, H.B. Fuller’s commitment to innovation and sustainable solutions brings together people, products and processes that answer and solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our reliable, responsive service creates lasting, rewarding connections with customers in electronics, disposable hygiene, health and beauty, transportation and infrastructure, aerospace, clean energy, packaging, construction, woodworking, general industries, and other consumer businesses. And, our promise to our people connects them with opportunities to innovate and thrive. www.hbfuller.com.
About Sunon:
Sunon Technology Co., Ltd., established in 1991, is an enterprise group dedicated to providing one-stop solutions for healthy, environment-friendly, comfortable, and smart office and commercial space, with product shipped to 118 countries and regions around the world. Customers of Sunon include 174 Fortune Global 500 companies and 307 China top 500 companies, such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Google, Toyota, and Coca-Cola.
Sunon has set up the European Research and Development Center in Berlin, Germany, the North American Research and Development Center in Los Angeles, and a joint research center for smart furniture with Zhejiang University. Sunon has obtained 1402 patents and 35 European and American design awards. Sunon now has 6 bases, Xiaoshan Modern Manufacturing Base, Sunon Technological Innovation Park, Qiantang Intelligent Manufacturing Base, Haining Eco-friendly Manufacturing Base, Sunon North Headquarters, and Sunon International (North America) Base in Mexico, to gradually form development featured by one-chain production, fine quality, collaborative development, and efficient distribution.
In the future, Sunon will persist in creating value for clients and is committed to becoming the office solution provider trusted by users all over the world.
About Covestro:
Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, cosmetics and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.
The company is committed to becoming fully circular and is striving to become climate neutral by 2035 (scope 1 and 2). Covestro generated sales of EUR 15.9 billion in fiscal 2021. At the end of 2021, the company had 50 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,900 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).