Sustainable, more sustainable, DERIX:
DERIX is the first company to use new bio-based adhesive

Right at the beginning of 2024, the mass timber engineering company, which focuses on circularity and carbon reduction, reached its next milestone in the area of sustainability:

The DERIX-Group is now using a new type of bio-based adhesive in its production of sustainable CLT components.

The adhesive “Loctite HB S Eco” is a new development from Henkel: it is the bio-based version of its certified and proven Loctite PUR adhesive. In “Loctite HB S Eco”, 63% of the chemical starting materials are no longer obtained from fossil raw materials, but are bio-based – i.e. from renewable or recycled starting materials*. This significantly reduces the adhesive’s CO2 footprint.

The DERIX-Group is the first mass timber engineering company in the world to use the new, bio-based adhesive in its production. The processing, quality and reliability of the adhesive remain unaffected by the changeover, as the chemical composition of the end product remains unchanged.

“We are very proud to once again fulfil our role as a pioneer in the field of innovation and sustainability with the introduction of the bio-based adhesive,” comments Markus Derix, managing owner of the DERIX-Group. “Even though the proportion of adhesive in the ready-to-install CLT components we supply is well below 1%, we are always endeavouring to achieve even greater sustainability and additional CO2 reduction in this area,” says Derix.

With Loctite PUR adhesive, the DERIX-Group uses a product that is fundamentally compatible with health and wellbeing in the indoor environment. The indoor emissions (VOC) caused by the low amount of adhesive in the CLT product result in emissions well below the limits permitted in Germany and the EU.

Consequently, the Loctite HB S adhesive, which chemical composition is identical to that of the new, bio-based version of this glue, has been Cradle to Cradle Gold certified in the “Material Health” category since 2020, showcasing that it is completely non-toxic.

“By using the bio-based version of the tried-and-tested and C2C-certified adhesive Loctite HB S, we have now also taken a big step forward in terms of our carbon footprint and bio-based content in the area of adhesives,” says Derix. “This innovative measure is a further step in our continuous efforts to optimise the sustainability of our production processes and our end product. We always have the promotion of circular and carbon neutral economy in mind as an overarching goal,” explains Derix.

The DERIX-Group prioritises sustainability and circularity. The company has been at the forefront of innovation in this area for years.

It was only in October 2023 that the DERIX-Group announced its award as a “climate-neutral company”. The DERIX-Group made a general commitment to take back used components its corporate standard back in May 2021. Numerous reference projects (The Cradle, Airship Hangar, Triodos Bank) have already been designed and implemented with a view to later dismantling in line with the circular economy (design for disassembly). Derix has been cooperating with madaster, the leading material register in Germany, since the beginning of 2023, thus supporting the reuse of components in the material cycle of the circular economy.

Here you can find out more about the implementation of sustainability and circularity at DERIX.

* The 63% of the organic mass of LOCTITE® HB S ECO PURBOND adhesives is combined with ISCC PLUS certified materials via a mass balance approach.