Deerfield Beach, Fla. – MAPEI continuously works to achieve social, environmental and economic sustainability. The company has recently directed its efforts toward environmental sustainability with the introduction of ecological refill packaging for its adhesives used in floor covering installations. During 2012 MAPEI will begin producing Ultrabond ECO 20, Ultrabond ECO 185, Ultrabond ECO 711 and Ultrabond ECO 810 in 1-gallon [3,79-L] plastic pouches, which will be packaged four per standard RSC corrugated box.
“MAPEI’s floor covering adhesives have an impressive record in terms of low emissions, regional materials, renewable resources, recycled content and more,” said Jeff Johnson, Business Manager for Floor Covering Installation Systems at MAPEI. “Now, we have taken a close look at sustainable packaging for our materials packaged in pails. In 2010 MAPEI Corporation delivered more than one million 4-gallon [15,1-L] plastic pails to the market. A large majority of these pails go directly into landfills as construction waste. This year we are introducing a convenient new type of package that allows installers to reuse existing plastic pails, thereby reducing contributions to landfills and dependency on petrochemical-based packaging.”
The concept is to initially produce four of MAPEI’s carpet adhesives in their standard packaging and in additional packaging that will be marketed as refills for existing plastic pails already at the jobsite or in the contractor’s possession. These refills can be used in one of two different manners: The floor covering installer can refill an existing, clean pail and continue using his traditional method of pulling adhesive out of the bucket as needed. Or, he can use the Ultrabond ECO Refill pouches “as-is” by making a seam-edge cut and emptying the adhesive directly onto the desired substrate for dispersal.
“The concept of refill packaging is not new and has been used successfully in many consumer products, including laundry detergent and various cleaning solutions,” Johnson said. “We feel we have overcome contractors’ typical objections to using plastic refills by providing our products in smaller, cost-saving 1-gallon [3,79-L] pouches and by using a very robust co-extruded film that is extremely durable and impact-resistant.” MAPEI will deliver its first Ultrabond ECO Refills to distributors in the first quarter of 2012.