Over Resin Research’s 40 year history the positive ecological aspects of epoxy resins have played a long standing presence in the minds of all involved. Elimination of solvents and the significant improvement in our factory workplace made us keenly aware of the positive track we had taken.
An Increasing Awareness
We soon began a campaign to increase awareness in the surfing community to the importance of things like reduced emissions, elimination of solvents, reduction of waste and recycling and the reuse of materials. This culminated in a number of magazine articles which appeared in Surfer, Surfing, Surfer’s Journal, Longboarder and others through the 90’s and 00’s.
Sustainable Surf
Then about a decade ago the website Sustainable Surf made it’s appearance and gave another aspect to epoxy resin ecology; Bio Based Chemistry. Their program was/is a catalog of different resin systems which use bio based chemistry in the creation of their products and a list of where each company’s products fall according to Bio Content. This published bio content percentage is attained through lab tests which prove a recent rather than fossil origin and provide the percentage number. The idea is that using recent plant derived chemistry will lower the eco footprint of the finished product. This reduction can be measured as 50% of the bio content each of the materials used. In other words is your chemistry is 20% bio then you Eco footprint is reduced by 10% on that resin product.
A Flaw in the Ointment … well … Resin
A few months ago we were contacted by an organization which disagreed with our bio based systems. They pointed out that origin is every bit as important as a target number on a website. We had hit the highest bio content number (39%) of any resin system commonly used on surfboards. The problem though went farther back. Turns out that 50% of our bio chemicals are sourced from Palm Oil.
The Palm Oil Problem
Palm oil’s source , not surprisingly, is from palm trees, coconut palms. Palm oil is CHEAP and it used to be very abundant especially in South East Asia where it is used as diesel fuel. Because its cheap and because it can be used in so many applications, Bio Chemistry being one, the demand has skyrocketed. To meet this demand tropical rain forests are today being cleared for larger and larger palm plantations. This deforestation is an extreme problem because, after the ocean itself, rainforests provide the worlds second largest carbon sink. So surprisingly it turns out the palm oil derived chemistry is hurting the environment at a similar rate to fossil derived chemistry.
Solution
Bio based chemistry can be based on vegetable oils other that Palm Oil. So that’s been one of our projects here at Resin Research, eliminate palm oil based chemistry and it’s been a challenge, one we’ve been able to meet. Starting in January all of our bio based systems will now be palm oil free. Cheers!
Wow thanks for sharing Greg, that’s fantastic that your resins will be palm oil free. So many factors are at play with sustainability, carbon footprint of shipping/distribution etc. It is VERY hard for an environmentally conscious consumer to make an informed decision particularly with the amount of green washing in all industries now. Over here in NZ it’s hard to get a bio resin of almost any description unfortunately. I tend to come at it from the angle of durability as well, building a board that will last for a LONG time thereby reducing the impact of some of the products involved.
Congratulacions. Looking for bio and no petrochemical materials is a must in every activitie. That is the only way. There are a company in France, Ecopin, exploring pine resin. Maybe it could be another viable option for surfboards. I’ll try a DIY. A lot of pines here…
This sounds very promising. Thanks for the transparency here. Very appreciated.
Does that mean that resin research will get gold level on the eco board project too?
As far as I could see now currently RR bio science 21 is level one and that’s the only RR epoxy listed.
Thanks for all of the details Greg! I have been using RR exclusively since I started shaping boards. Granted, I have only shaped about 20 boards, but I am a huge fan of your product. Many of my early boards (10+ years ago) are still going strong and their colors have remained the same. The thing that I appreciate the most is your focus on making a product that is as safe as possible for the user. I have gotten gobs of RR epoxy resin on my skin over the years and have never had a reaction. I also appreciate your advice from long ago to just leave acetone out of the whole process. I never use the stuff.
Regarding bio resins. I’m sorry you have to jump through all of those hoops. The amount of fossil based product that is required to make a batch of resin is a fraction of what is in our cars gas tanks. Just driving to the beach cancels out any benefit of buying a bio resin board.
I would characterize myself as an environmentalist. However, I’m also practical. People switching to bio resin boards are just fooling themselves into thinking they are saving the environment. Now… switching away from palm oil is a huge environmental benefit. I applaud you for your efforts in that area! Keep it up.
I was wondering that as well. Maybe the side is not showing all resin options while not logged in our in the mobile version. Right now I only see the RR 21 system but that might be on me. If not, might be an issue with the database.
Thank you for sharing your insights, gregory.I appreciate your efforts to make your epoxy resins more eco-friendly and palm oil free. I agree that sustainability is a complex and multifaceted issue that requires transparency and collaboration. * Thank you for sharing your insights, Greg. I appreciate your efforts to make your epoxy resins more eco-friendly and palm oil free. I agree that sustainability is a complex and multifaceted issue that requires transparency and collaboration.
