A sustainable alternative? A comparative life cycle assessment of epoxy adhesives

Abstract

AbstractIn response to the imperative of eco‐friendly material substitution, a comparative cradle‐to‐gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of two epoxy adhesives is presented: a traditional epoxy resin and an innovative self‐curing epoxy derived by epoxidizing poly‐beta‐myrcene (a constituent of Chios Mastic natural resin). Employing ReCiPe 2016 indicators and standard normalization, our study reveals that epoxidized poly‐beta‐myrcene outperforms conventional epoxy in 9 of 18 assessed midpoint indicators, with minimal impact in 7, and marginally higher impact in 2. The superiority of epoxidized poly‐beta‐myrcene extends to all three ReCiPe Endpoint protection areas. Atom economy and the E‐factor are also considered and related to the LCA results. Furthermore, the evaluation demonstrates epoxidized poly‐beta‐myrcene's remarkable environmental favorability compared to a literature bio‐based epoxy across multiple CML‐IA‐baseline indicators. In summary, epoxidized poly‐beta‐myrcene emerges as a promising, ecologically sensitive alternative to current conventional and bio‐based epoxy options.