Waste Prevention: Improving the Environment

Laura Smith / 12 August 2022

Waste prevention, material recovery and recycling have the goal of reducing the volume of waste. This goal is becoming an increasing priority. The construction sector is one of the most resource- and waste-intensive sectors of the economy. A large number of different types of waste are generated in both new construction and refurbishment. In addition to construction and demolition waste, this also includes packaging waste. It is important that the resulting waste is sorted directly at the construction site. Of course it is even better if packaging waste is not produced in the first place.

In order to promote the generation of ideas in general, the "European Week for Waste Prevention" has been launched, a European project supported by the +LIFE program of the European Commission. The main objective is to spread the concept of waste prevention by highlighting the environmental impact of waste and climate change.

Waste prevention starts in the concept and design phase of products. For example, the materials used are considered in terms of absence of pollutants, durability and recyclability, with the aim of reducing the amount of raw materials used as much as possible.

At Tremco CPG Europe, sustainability and environmental protection are also in the center of our activities. For example, one result of our R&D efforts is the linerless technology for joint sealing tapes. For over 60 years, we have been developing and producing pre-compressed joint sealing tapes for various applications under the illbruck brand. These tapes are equipped with a single sided self-adhesive. To protect the self-adhesion, the tapes are conventionally manufactured with a liner. This liner is removed when the tape is installed. With the unique, patented illbruck linerless technology, the protective liner is no longer required, while the properties of the tapes remain the same. This product technology offers a double advantage in processing: the linerless tape can be processed faster overall, as there is no need to nibble off the liner, and the construction site can be cleaned more quickly. This is because waste is significantly reduced. In this way, you set an ecological footprint on the construction site.

At the same time, joint sealing tapes with illbruck Linerless technologynot only support an ecological construction process, but they also promote building sustainability by contributing to energy savings and building longevity.

This product technology also pays attention to a rule applied to this type of products: the "3 R's Rule", a proposal for better consumption habits based on the idea of: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.