TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Adhesives Sealants
An Interview with Jack van Leeuwen, Director of Technical Service for Construction at Omya
Omya is a key supplier of calcium carbonate functional minerals that make adhesives and sealants more sustainable, improve their performance and functionality, and allow effective formulation cost optimization.
Omya products can help you meet the needs of different chemistries and applications. They help achieve the following functionalities:
- modified rheology,
- improved mechanical performance, and
- reduced amount of water throughout the industrial production
With tightening regulations and a push for sustainability, companies are optimizing properties while reducing environmental impact. Omya addresses these needs through energy and chemical use reductions in their product offering.
We had the privilege of conversing with Jack van Leeuwen, Omya’s Director for Technical Services in Construction. Thanks to his extensive experience in this sector, Jack provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by the industry and explains how Omya is strategically positioning itself to address them. Additionally, he shares his perspectives on addressing technical challenges, the importance of industry collaboration, and Omya's commitment to supporting customer innovation.
#1. How do we see the challenges in the adhesives and sealants industry?
The challenges in the industry are multifaceted, with the key focus on optimizing properties and making sustainable gains amid tightening regulations. As the industry continues to grow, capacity constraints become more apparent. The reduction of the carbon footprint, both in terms of energy consumption and the environmental impact of chemicals, is a critical goal.
Sustainability is also a major focus with respect to health and safety when viewed from a perspective of limiting the use of potentially harmful chemicals. Reclassification of products demands finding solutions that strike the right balance between cost, performance, and sustainability. Cooperation between different suppliers and customers is paramount in navigating these challenges.
#2. How is Omya positioned to solve the industry’s challenges?
Omya is strategically positioned to address the challenges of the adhesives and sealants industry through its focus on creating sustainability and by providing its customers with practical solutions. In a nutshell, Omya enables energy savings and reduce harmful chemicals in formulations. Our
Omyabond 100 series, which lowers moisture content in the adhesive production process, plays a pivotal role in achieving these objectives.
The filler package, a significant part of the formulation, especially in sealants, has the potential to significantly influence properties. Omya’s broad range of mineral fillers, coupled with an understanding of the powder characteristics, allows meaningful optimization of
mechanical and rheological properties as required by the application. Omya collaborates closely with partners, such as binders and additive manufacturers, to both find and develop innovative solutions.
Omyabond Technology - Product Portfolio Depicting Their Mechanical/Rheological Impact vs. Moisture
#3. According to your extensive experience, what have you seen that is easy to say but in practical terms hard to achieve and why?
Drawing from my experience in formulation and application in the coatings industry, I have become aware that a common thread linking sustainability activities in the
construction sector is that achieving real gains while maintaining properties is often more easily said than done. The challenge lies in finding the right balance between cost, performance, and sustainability.
Being a member of trade associations has been instrumental in staying ahead of industry changes and regulations. Implementable solutions become possible when you have a good understanding of customer challenges and a network of relationships with raw material manufacturers.
#4. Are there universal technical solutions for adhesives & sealants?
Due to the large variety of applications, it is not surprising that so many different adhesives and sealants are available. These vary in terms of application, performance, technology, quality, and requirements they are intended to meet. The formulations are thus highly diverse, leading to a
wide variety of fillers that, alongside other raw materials influence the properties.
Various formulations establish not only a physical bond but also a chemical bond with the substrate. The requirements can be exceptionally stringent in these cases, and it is important to consider the performance of the raw materials themselves, as well as how they behave in the formulation, storage, and final application.
It is also interesting that sustainability can mean different things for different types of adhesive applications. For example,
low moisture fillers enable energy savings in reactive systems, while for optimization in packaging adhesives, the focus can be more on the particle size.
#5. What upcoming challenges and requirements does the industry need to consider?
Many industries are moving towards a model where the product can be completely recycled at the end of its life, but for buildings and vehicles, it can be very challenging to meet the endurance requirements for the intended use and also allow for the products to be separated so that they can pass into different recycling streams.
Adhesives or sealants often form a chemical bond to the substrate or are thermosetting, meaning that the raw materials undergo a chemical change to produce a new material with new properties.
Debonding-on-demand is an area where the industry is investing in new solutions to attempt to confront these problems and design a built-in recycling mechanism for the adhesives themselves. Addressing this challenge will necessitate collaborative efforts between industry and scientific communities.
#6. How is Omya supporting customers with innovation?
Omya is committed to supporting customer innovation and does this through a number of avenues. They provide reformulation support, leveraging our well-equipped laboratories and high level of technical expertise. Our international team works closely with our customers which brings valuable insight that allows us to stay abreast of market trends.
It is of utmost importance to Omya to engage with and maintain a diverse team of employees from different nationalities and backgrounds and this diversity of thought helps to bring new and relevant insights to industry challenges. It is through this collaborative approach, both internally and externally, allows Omya to contribute meaningfully to the progress of the construction sector.
Conclusion
Jack van Leeuwen's insights shed light on the challenges and innovative solutions within the adhesives and sealants industry. Omya's strategic positioning in addressing sustainability, energy efficiency, and collaboration with industry partners underscores its commitment to driving positive change.
As the industry evolves, Omya continues to be at the forefront, shaping the future with a focus on practical, sustainable, and innovative solutions – as the company’s mission states, after all, Omya aims at building a new world #ThinkingOfTomorrow.
SEE ALL PRODUCTS BY OMYA
About Jack van Leeuwen 
Jack van Leeuwen is Director of Technical Service for Construction at Omya. With 40 years of experience in the Construction and Coating Industry. He has extensive industry knowledge, from nanocoatings to EIFS systems, from both a technical and economic perspective.
The diversity of his experience and the internationality of the projects led to his deep understanding and ability to support and anticipate the customer's requirements in terms of formulations, production, applications, and design.
He is a board member of the SVLFC (Association of Swiss Paint and Coating Chemists). Before joining Omya, he held management positions at Sto, Akzo Nobel, and various industrial coatings manufacturers.