Titebond III – biodegradable?

beasleysevin | Posted in General Discussion on April 23, 2021 07:38pm

I know it’s water soluble, but is it biodegradable? The sawdust and chips from the shop go to the horse stalls for bedding, (unless there is Black Walnut involved) then to the manure/compost pile. It’s the dried glue squeeze out globs of glue that get sucked up and processed with the sawdust that I’m wondering about. Am I going to start finding them in the garden? Or are the degrading with everything else?

Replies

john_c2 | Apr 23, 2021 07:54pm | #1
III is waterproof, so if pellets of glue go into the garden, that's where they'll stay. But they are harmless at that point. And I can't imagine you'll be producing enough bits for it to matter.
jfsksa | Apr 23, 2021 08:11pm | #2
I can't imagine caring.
_mj_ | Apr 23, 2021 08:44pm | #3
Pretty wild, glue going to the horse factory is quite the turnaround.

john_c2 | Apr 24, 2021 04:31am | #5
That's funny right there.

gulfstar | Apr 23, 2021 10:51pm | #4
Fine Woodworking ...
mikeinohio | Apr 24, 2021 08:06am | #6
The Safety Data Sheet for Titebond III is available on their website (see attached section 10 of the SDS).

The part about hazardous decomposition
products says there are none.

It makes no claims as to being biodegradable. But it does acknowledge that small amounts of the product will still be in the container when you dispose of it and even so, they recommend recycling the container if possible or sending it to the landfill if not.

The takeaway from this is that small amounts of Titebond III in the landfill are not a problem.

Mike
rob_ss | Apr 25, 2021 12:37am | #7
Waterproof PVA is only really water resistant, not waterproof. It will stand being wet and dried a few times but will eventually fail.
With good fitting joinery, and care to avoid contact with the ground, it is ok to use for outdoor furniture, but will fail in the end. If high strength joints are not needed, Gorilla Glue is best for outdoors.

Once in the soil, PVA glue breaks down then biodegrades by a number of both aerobic and anerobic processes, so those globs don't really stand a chance.

As for Walnut, whilst I too would not take a chance, the use of woodshop shavings (as opposed to log milling shavings) probably carries almost no risk. Once aged and dried the toxicity seems to diminish, though evidence either way is very weak. I happily use mine for chicken bedding though the chooks don't really eat much of the shavings whilst horses will of course eat quite a bit of it if there is something tasty in amongst it.