When our company introduced urinals made with soybean resin it made quite a stir. It caught many people by surprise that soy could even be used in the manufacture of urinals or any other product for that matter.However, the potential and possibilities of using soybean resin as actually been around for quite awhile. For instance, in the early 1930s, Ford Motor Company invested more than $1 million in soybean research. It was a huge amount at that time but paid off well for the company. By the mid-1930s, Ford’s research had produced soy products used to paint automobiles—saving the company a considerable sum—and as fluid in shock absorbers. Founder and then-president Henry Ford even believed soy could be used to replace steel when building cars. In 1941, he famously demonstrated this by introducing the company’s first all-plastic-body concept car made with soy-based products and taking a sledgehammer to its hood, proving the soy-based materials’ strength and durability. Although Ford’s soy plastic proved the concept’s merit, it was soon forgotten as the auto industry geared up to produce steel trucks, tanks, and other wheeled vehicles for World War II.What Ford discovered, and what many manufacturers are learning now, is that soy-based products do have many applications, are proving to be a promising alternative to many conventional products, and what may be most important, is very sustainable and environmentally responsible as well. As to the manufacture of urinals, with soy and soy resin, there is less processing required. This means less energy, reducing our need for petroleum and other nonrenewable products. And soy resin urinals have passed all of the relevant performance and safety tests. I think soy is here to stay and we will see it in more and more products.
Klaus Reichardt, Founder and President of Waterless Co