Water-Based Adhesives

Water-based laminating adhesives use water as a carrier for their ingredients and are widely used by manufacturers and converters looking to avoid volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These water-based adhesives provide advantages in sustainability over solvent-based adhesives since they use water as their carrier; they do not release large amounts of VOCs into the surrounding environment during the coating and drying processes. Bostik's water-based laminating adhesives are highly versatile and create strong bonds on a variety of materials, including several types of film, foil, and paper.  

End-use applications for these adhesives include food packaging, medical packaging, and industrial laminates. Laminates made with these adhesives carry food contact approval for snack food, frozen food, microwaveable food, and warm fill and boil-in-bag packages. These adhesives also provide good chemical resistance and are compatible with chemicals and solvents used in medical applications. These laminating adhesives can create industrial laminates used in thermal and electrical insulations that bond materials such as PET, polyolefin, and nylon plastic films and foil. 

Bostik’s water-based laminating adhesives are made of polyurethane dispersions or acrylic emulsions. In both cases, the polyurethane or acrylic resins are stabilized in water. They are supplied machine ready, meaning the formulations require no dilution compared to solvent-based laminating adhesives, which require dilution prior to coating onto substrates and subsequent drying to facilitate dry bond lamination. This enables faster slit-to-ship turnaround times. After drying, the adhesive resin system remains on the substrate for bonding to a secondary substrate to form the laminate under heat and pressure. 

Learn more about our water-based laminating adhesives by reviewing our options below.