Did you know that if a book has a non-leather cover, it doesn’t actually guarantee it’s vegan? I found this out recently, when I discovered our manufacturer uses 'animal glue' as standard practice.
Animal glue is a popular adhesive and it's used in a wide variety of applications, including the manufacture of ‘paper over board’ products.
These include:
- Covers on hardback books
- Covers on wire-o bound books
- Lever arch files & ring binders
- Box files and
- Board games
It's extracted from collagen, a protein component found in hides, bones and connective tissue of pigs and cattle and then graded for different uses in food, pharmacy and the adhesive industry.
They’re water based, non-toxic and require a lower melting point, making them easier to use in production and popular with some manufacturers. They’re also recyclable, repulpable, and biodegradable, and do not contaminate waste disposal areas, so it's got lots of things going for it.
However as a strict vegetarian, I didn’t feel comfortable at the thought of meat industry bi-products being used in the manufacture of Reecovid’s products, so found a suitable wood based resin alternative instead.