A lifecycle design framework for sustainable pressure-sensitive adhesives

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) underpin modern technologies, yet their sustainability is fundamentally constrained by the same molecular features that enable rapid bonding and durable adhesion. In particular, carbon-carbon-dominated backbones confer desirable viscoelastic properties but lead to persistent materials that are difficult to remove, recycle, or dismantle after use. Here, we review recent progress in PSA sustainability and frame it as a lifecycle design challenge, in which feedstock origin, polymer architecture, adhesive function, and end-of-life behavior must be considered together. We show that current approaches-bio-based materials, degradable structures, and debonding strategies-each address different stages of the adhesive lifecycle and exhibit distinct advantages and limitations when pursued independently. Emerging hybrid systems demonstrate that these functions can be integrated, enabling on-demand debonding and downstream transformation without compromising adhesive performance, even under stringent application constraints. This perspective suggests that sustainable PSAs should be designed not through single-axis optimization, but through lifecycle programmability, where bonding, release, and post-use fate are co-engineered according to the intended reuse, recycling, or recovery pathway.