Tom Branna, Editorial Director07.03.23
The 2023 World Surfactant Congress, organized by CESIO, the European Committee of Organic Surfactants and their Intermediates, attracted 350 executives from formulating companies such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Henkel. Also in attendance were representative companies from every link in the supply chain.
CESIO 2023 was held in Rome, June 5-7.
Congress Chair Tony Gough of Innospec welcomed attendees; but at the same time, he delivered a laundry list of issues that are sure to stress the surfactant industry in the coming weeks, months and years. He noted that covid exposed the limits of the global healthcare system; a growing global population will make it difficult to reach the UN’s -1.5°C Global Climate Pledge; the Russian War in Ukraine is impacting prices; and in 2022 the EU began importing more chemicals than it exports.
“Europe is having a tough time competing with the US and China,” Gough admitted.
Meanwhile, regulators are demanding more and more from the cleaning industry and its suppliers—all while the industry moves from fossil-based feedstocks.
“How do we move to green feedstocks?” he asked the audience.
More questions, and answers, were raised during the three-day event, which got underway with a welcoming address from Raffael Tardi of AISPEC-Federchimica, the Italian association of fine and specialty chemicals.
“The chemical industry is at the heart of the European Green New Deal. Our sector is affected by the largest number of legislative initiatives,” he told attendees. “Collaboration is the only way to succeed without sacrificing quality of life.”
He called Rome the capital of culture, as well as the capital of surfactants; noting that chemistry is an industrial pillar of Italy. As such, AISPEC-Federchimica is committed to improve the profile of chemistry for students, while explaining why cleaning is the best solution when it comes to improving the health of consumers.
Onerous regulations were the topic of conversation in sessions and in meeting rooms throughout the three-day event. Whether the chatter got into the ear of the EU REACH delegate is unclear. But the fact is that Giuseppe Casella, head of REACH Unit, European Commission, chose to deliver his remarks via video. Casella focused his discussion on REACH revisions which, he explained, have three objectives:
Other measures include simplifying the authorization system, extending the General Risk Management Approach to additional hazard classes and some professional uses, and introduction of the Essential Use Concept, which aims to speed up decisions on clear cases.
Revisions would also introduce a European Audit Capacity to support enforcement authorities and crack down on illegal online sales. Revisions would improve cooperation with custom authorities to ensure imports are compliant with REACH. Finally, those with non-compliant registration dossiers would have their registration numbers revoked.
When will these measures go into effect? Casella said the Commission proposal would be adopted by Q4 2023 at the latest. Ordinary legislative procedure and comitology would occur in 2024 and 2025.
“REACH was a challenge in 2001 and 2003, but these revisions are even more challenging!” observed session moderator Alex Föller of Tegewa.
Phil Vinson of Procter & Gamble opened his presentation extolling the world of surfactants.
“People theorize surfactants played a critical role in the development of life for RNA to form,” he said. “That may not be true, but it is something to consider.”
What is true is that a one-liter detergent bottle contains 250 grams of surfactant. If all of the micelles were put in a chain, it would be long enough to go the sun and back.
“I’ve been looking at surfactants for 38 years. Think about the entanglements and how they store energy during shear,” he rhapsodized. “Vesicles, compressed vesicles, discoidal bicellles, bicontinuous microemulsion. That is at the core of the products we make. It is amazing!”
And while the chemistry is complex, so too are the issues surrounding the raw materials and formulas. Vinson said P&G is committed to sustainability, but not at the expense of performance. Sustainability, he said, needs to be rooted in best science and responsible sourcing. Turning to the end-consumer, he noted that in a P&G survey, three of the top five consumer concerns were about environmental issues.
“When we compact formulas, there is less carbon. There are many ways to reduce high-volume surfactants,” he added.
These include reducing carbon sources by relying on plant and insect oils.
“But it is harder to clean in cold water. The consumer tells us that food and grease stains are the worst,” said Vinson, adding that at low temperature, triglycerides crystallize and become more adhesive. “We must lower the carbon footprint and deliver performance in cold water.”
That means compensating for the loss in thermal energy with chemical energy. But, he warned, if consumers don’t see results in cold water, they start overdosing, pre-treating and rewashing.
“As we move to cold water washing, we need to make sure consumers aren’t overcompensating. We need better chemistry, not more chemistry.”
Better chemistry, he said, starts with branched alkyl sulfates. These surfactants produce high levels of stain removal and better whiteness. In 2017, Vinson and Sebastian Hartmann began a 2-alkyl branched alcohol project. They’ve found that 2-alkyl branched C15 sulfate has a superior combination of surface activity, rate of adsorption, packing at interface, and low temperature solubility v. SLS and linear C15 AS. To prove it, he showed how the C15 product performed better than SLS at removing chili oil from polyester. The new formula will be on the market in 2024.
Sustainability can be an enabler of product superiority, but it cannot come at the expense of product performance and value, noted Vinson, adding that sustainability requires innovation and innovation requires strong partnership and collaboration.
“This needs to be done with safe ingredients and against other endpoints such as water scarcity,” Vinson concluded. “We need to be in sync with one another in order to deliver.”
So how can suppliers help P&G reach its goals? Vinson provided some starting points:
“But really, my boss is the consumer. They use the products I design. If they’re not happy, it’s no good. People want clean clothes, clean plates and clean hair,” he said.
So, the consumer was inspiration for Batchelor’s presentation. He reviewed the needs of consumers in disparate economies—Monaco and India. The latter is the most populous country on earth with a GDP of $2,300 per capita. In contrast, Monaco is one of the smallest, with a per capita GDP 100x that of India. In between, there’s Brazil with a GDP of $7,500 and France, with a GDP of $44,000. But no matter where they live, they want to wash their clothes and they want them to be clean. How they wash clothes is different, too. It’s not all top and front loaders. Most people in the world still wash their clothes by hand—but the need for clean clothes is still there. Emerging market populations are growing three times faster than established market and the wealth gap is closing.
“We all want to have a better future for our children, but we will leave our children in a worse world according to an IPCC report,” noted Batchelor. “We’re on a highway to climate hell and our foot is still on the accelerator. We need better, affordable, sustainable products.”
IPCC is the scientific group assembled by the United Nations to monitor and assess all global science related to climate change. The consumer wants affordable, sustainable products, too. Batchelor said 56% of shoppers are eco-active; they want to buy eco products. But 45% of them say it is hard to act sustainably due to economic constraints. If those in the audience want to learn more about these eco-consumers, Batchelor said you’ll find them on TikTok.
“Go to CleanTok; it is a massive source of education for consumers,” he advised. “Their solutions may not be science based, but they will try it.”
He called for real-world testing, noting that if a formula worked in the lab, but the consumer doesn’t notice an improvement, it’s not an innovative. Innovation must be affordable, too.
“We can’t solve problems for the 1-2% of the population. Most of our consumers wash in cold water—it’s all they’ve got.”
Batchelor called hand-washing of clothes in India Unilever’s biggest issue, just because there is a lot of it.
“Let’s move to lower temperature washing in the US and EU, sure; but it’s not the total solution,” he added.
Where do surfactants fit into this equation? According to Batchelor, surfactants make up 50% of the ingredients in the bottle.
“We need step-change in our Clean Future journey,” he added.
Like every other company at the Congress, Unilever has a range of targets—no deforestation by 2023, cut its use of virgin plastic in half by 2025, use 25% recycled plastic by 2025, half GHG emissions by 2030 and ensure net zero carbon emissions by 2039.
To get there, Unilever will rely on plants, algae and waste resources—Batchelor called it a “carbon rainbow.”
“You can’t just run to plants; there isn’t enough land to grow enough plants. We need more solutions.”
For the past 10 years, Unilever has been using fewer ingredients and fewer packaging materials. The result is a drastic reduction in GHG emissions. But there’s more to be done.
“Let’s keep at it,” he concluded. “I look forward to working with all of you.”
“The EU is on such a high legislative level that other regions won’t follow,” he warned.
Scheidgen called enzymes the greenest ingredients; but noted that they are considered substances of concern and are on the negative list for toxicity because they cause respiratory issues in powder form. For its part, Henkel coats enzymes and only uses them in liquid form.
Of course, Henkel has its own laundry list of accomplishments; enough that it was recognized as a top 1% company by Ecovadis. Henkel’s goals include reaching carbon neutrality by 2040. The company is a founding member of the Renewable Carbon Initiative. It worked with BASF in Europe and Shell in the US to move from petrol to renewable carbon feedstocks.
Scheidgen noted degradability measurements are 20-40 years old and are no longer satisfactory. He called for adding another tier: degradable in principle, in addition to readily biodegradable and inherently biodegradable.
Scheidgen took a poke at the new REACH requirements, noting that the reporting requirements are extremely complex and put undo demand on the industry.
“We are the guinea pigs for this technology,” he charged.
The new QR code requirement will require a range of product parameters including ease and quality of recycling, microplastic release, environmental and carbon footprint measurements, and consumer use of energy, water and other resources.
“Will this lead to better climate and water quality? The benefits we add to environmental safety are incremental to the effort we make. Look at dioxane,” he added. “We are investing a lot with little reward.”
Like others in the audience, Scheidgen said a key person was missing at the Congress.
“It is too bad that Guiseppe Cosella isn’t here; I want to talk about REACH,” he said. “Safety involves not just sheer presence, but concentration and application.”
He called for a science-based approach estimate of the impact of the REACH Revision, pointing out that substances should not be restricted for their sheer presence (hazard approach).
“Paracelsus is still right, even after 500 years! The dose makes the poison. A science-based risk approach must take into account application and concentration!” he charged. “The EU Green Deal has the right intention but overshoots in effort and complexity; there is a need for a science-based risk approach, considering essentiality of chemicals.”
For more coverage of the World Surfactants Congress, click here.
CESIO 2023 was held in Rome, June 5-7.
Congress Chair Tony Gough of Innospec welcomed attendees; but at the same time, he delivered a laundry list of issues that are sure to stress the surfactant industry in the coming weeks, months and years. He noted that covid exposed the limits of the global healthcare system; a growing global population will make it difficult to reach the UN’s -1.5°C Global Climate Pledge; the Russian War in Ukraine is impacting prices; and in 2022 the EU began importing more chemicals than it exports.
“Europe is having a tough time competing with the US and China,” Gough admitted.
Meanwhile, regulators are demanding more and more from the cleaning industry and its suppliers—all while the industry moves from fossil-based feedstocks.
“How do we move to green feedstocks?” he asked the audience.
More questions, and answers, were raised during the three-day event, which got underway with a welcoming address from Raffael Tardi of AISPEC-Federchimica, the Italian association of fine and specialty chemicals.
“The chemical industry is at the heart of the European Green New Deal. Our sector is affected by the largest number of legislative initiatives,” he told attendees. “Collaboration is the only way to succeed without sacrificing quality of life.”
He called Rome the capital of culture, as well as the capital of surfactants; noting that chemistry is an industrial pillar of Italy. As such, AISPEC-Federchimica is committed to improve the profile of chemistry for students, while explaining why cleaning is the best solution when it comes to improving the health of consumers.
Onerous regulations were the topic of conversation in sessions and in meeting rooms throughout the three-day event. Whether the chatter got into the ear of the EU REACH delegate is unclear. But the fact is that Giuseppe Casella, head of REACH Unit, European Commission, chose to deliver his remarks via video. Casella focused his discussion on REACH revisions which, he explained, have three objectives:
- Increase protection of human health and the environment through adequate and sufficient information on chemicals and adequate risk management measures;
- Better functioning and competitive internal market through simplification of existing rules and procedures to improve efficiency; and
- Increase compliance with REACH requirements.
Other measures include simplifying the authorization system, extending the General Risk Management Approach to additional hazard classes and some professional uses, and introduction of the Essential Use Concept, which aims to speed up decisions on clear cases.
Revisions would also introduce a European Audit Capacity to support enforcement authorities and crack down on illegal online sales. Revisions would improve cooperation with custom authorities to ensure imports are compliant with REACH. Finally, those with non-compliant registration dossiers would have their registration numbers revoked.
When will these measures go into effect? Casella said the Commission proposal would be adopted by Q4 2023 at the latest. Ordinary legislative procedure and comitology would occur in 2024 and 2025.
“REACH was a challenge in 2001 and 2003, but these revisions are even more challenging!” observed session moderator Alex Föller of Tegewa.
What Soapers Think
Many may consider EU legislators are guilty of over-REACH, but three of the biggest players in global cleaning industry have their own sustainability agendas, which were discussed in depth during the opening Congress session.Phil Vinson of Procter & Gamble opened his presentation extolling the world of surfactants.
“People theorize surfactants played a critical role in the development of life for RNA to form,” he said. “That may not be true, but it is something to consider.”
What is true is that a one-liter detergent bottle contains 250 grams of surfactant. If all of the micelles were put in a chain, it would be long enough to go the sun and back.
“I’ve been looking at surfactants for 38 years. Think about the entanglements and how they store energy during shear,” he rhapsodized. “Vesicles, compressed vesicles, discoidal bicellles, bicontinuous microemulsion. That is at the core of the products we make. It is amazing!”
And while the chemistry is complex, so too are the issues surrounding the raw materials and formulas. Vinson said P&G is committed to sustainability, but not at the expense of performance. Sustainability, he said, needs to be rooted in best science and responsible sourcing. Turning to the end-consumer, he noted that in a P&G survey, three of the top five consumer concerns were about environmental issues.
Climate Change for P&G
P&G’s 2040 net zero target for carbon emission involves renewable carbon, recycled carbon and captured carbon. Vinson noted that 83% of P&G’s global carbon footprint comes from consumer use. Therefore, he focused his remarks on Scope 3 protocols. To reduce GHG emissions in finished products, P&G will phase out non-performing materials, formulate with weight-efficient materials, decarbonize its supply of existing materials, and redesign product form and packaging.“When we compact formulas, there is less carbon. There are many ways to reduce high-volume surfactants,” he added.
These include reducing carbon sources by relying on plant and insect oils.
Better Chemistry
At the consumer level, more than 30 million tons of carbon dioxide can be eliminated if consumers wash clothes in cold water. Last year, 56% of Americans used cold water to wash clothes; P&G wants to get to 75% by 2030.“But it is harder to clean in cold water. The consumer tells us that food and grease stains are the worst,” said Vinson, adding that at low temperature, triglycerides crystallize and become more adhesive. “We must lower the carbon footprint and deliver performance in cold water.”
That means compensating for the loss in thermal energy with chemical energy. But, he warned, if consumers don’t see results in cold water, they start overdosing, pre-treating and rewashing.
“As we move to cold water washing, we need to make sure consumers aren’t overcompensating. We need better chemistry, not more chemistry.”
Better chemistry, he said, starts with branched alkyl sulfates. These surfactants produce high levels of stain removal and better whiteness. In 2017, Vinson and Sebastian Hartmann began a 2-alkyl branched alcohol project. They’ve found that 2-alkyl branched C15 sulfate has a superior combination of surface activity, rate of adsorption, packing at interface, and low temperature solubility v. SLS and linear C15 AS. To prove it, he showed how the C15 product performed better than SLS at removing chili oil from polyester. The new formula will be on the market in 2024.
Sustainability can be an enabler of product superiority, but it cannot come at the expense of product performance and value, noted Vinson, adding that sustainability requires innovation and innovation requires strong partnership and collaboration.
“This needs to be done with safe ingredients and against other endpoints such as water scarcity,” Vinson concluded. “We need to be in sync with one another in order to deliver.”
So how can suppliers help P&G reach its goals? Vinson provided some starting points:
- Short, mid and long-term cost-effective solutions for carbon footprint reduction, starting with key existing large volume surfactants and feedstocks;
- Superior technologies, especially high performing and carbon efficient surfactants that help delight consumers in low energy conditions; and
- Safe, compliant and sustainably sourced chemicals to meet sustainability challenges such as carbon footprint reduction and water scarcity.
The Unilever Point of View
Stephen Batchelor holds more than 250 patents at the world’s largest fast-moving-consumer-goods company. He noted that a new CEO (Hein Schumacher) took the helm at Unilever on July 1.“But really, my boss is the consumer. They use the products I design. If they’re not happy, it’s no good. People want clean clothes, clean plates and clean hair,” he said.
So, the consumer was inspiration for Batchelor’s presentation. He reviewed the needs of consumers in disparate economies—Monaco and India. The latter is the most populous country on earth with a GDP of $2,300 per capita. In contrast, Monaco is one of the smallest, with a per capita GDP 100x that of India. In between, there’s Brazil with a GDP of $7,500 and France, with a GDP of $44,000. But no matter where they live, they want to wash their clothes and they want them to be clean. How they wash clothes is different, too. It’s not all top and front loaders. Most people in the world still wash their clothes by hand—but the need for clean clothes is still there. Emerging market populations are growing three times faster than established market and the wealth gap is closing.
“We all want to have a better future for our children, but we will leave our children in a worse world according to an IPCC report,” noted Batchelor. “We’re on a highway to climate hell and our foot is still on the accelerator. We need better, affordable, sustainable products.”
IPCC is the scientific group assembled by the United Nations to monitor and assess all global science related to climate change. The consumer wants affordable, sustainable products, too. Batchelor said 56% of shoppers are eco-active; they want to buy eco products. But 45% of them say it is hard to act sustainably due to economic constraints. If those in the audience want to learn more about these eco-consumers, Batchelor said you’ll find them on TikTok.
“Go to CleanTok; it is a massive source of education for consumers,” he advised. “Their solutions may not be science based, but they will try it.”
He called for real-world testing, noting that if a formula worked in the lab, but the consumer doesn’t notice an improvement, it’s not an innovative. Innovation must be affordable, too.
“We can’t solve problems for the 1-2% of the population. Most of our consumers wash in cold water—it’s all they’ve got.”
Batchelor called hand-washing of clothes in India Unilever’s biggest issue, just because there is a lot of it.
“Let’s move to lower temperature washing in the US and EU, sure; but it’s not the total solution,” he added.
Where do surfactants fit into this equation? According to Batchelor, surfactants make up 50% of the ingredients in the bottle.
“We need step-change in our Clean Future journey,” he added.
Like every other company at the Congress, Unilever has a range of targets—no deforestation by 2023, cut its use of virgin plastic in half by 2025, use 25% recycled plastic by 2025, half GHG emissions by 2030 and ensure net zero carbon emissions by 2039.
To get there, Unilever will rely on plants, algae and waste resources—Batchelor called it a “carbon rainbow.”
“You can’t just run to plants; there isn’t enough land to grow enough plants. We need more solutions.”
For the past 10 years, Unilever has been using fewer ingredients and fewer packaging materials. The result is a drastic reduction in GHG emissions. But there’s more to be done.
“Let’s keep at it,” he concluded. “I look forward to working with all of you.”
Henkel’s transformation ideas
Henkel, too, has been working on a Green Transformation for a decade. Arndt Scheidgen agreed the industry must work together; he warned that a number of parallel initiatives compete against one another. At the same time, Scheidgen said there are no incentives in the EU—only restrictions.“The EU is on such a high legislative level that other regions won’t follow,” he warned.
Scheidgen called enzymes the greenest ingredients; but noted that they are considered substances of concern and are on the negative list for toxicity because they cause respiratory issues in powder form. For its part, Henkel coats enzymes and only uses them in liquid form.
Of course, Henkel has its own laundry list of accomplishments; enough that it was recognized as a top 1% company by Ecovadis. Henkel’s goals include reaching carbon neutrality by 2040. The company is a founding member of the Renewable Carbon Initiative. It worked with BASF in Europe and Shell in the US to move from petrol to renewable carbon feedstocks.
Scheidgen noted degradability measurements are 20-40 years old and are no longer satisfactory. He called for adding another tier: degradable in principle, in addition to readily biodegradable and inherently biodegradable.
Scheidgen took a poke at the new REACH requirements, noting that the reporting requirements are extremely complex and put undo demand on the industry.
“We are the guinea pigs for this technology,” he charged.
The new QR code requirement will require a range of product parameters including ease and quality of recycling, microplastic release, environmental and carbon footprint measurements, and consumer use of energy, water and other resources.
“Will this lead to better climate and water quality? The benefits we add to environmental safety are incremental to the effort we make. Look at dioxane,” he added. “We are investing a lot with little reward.”
Like others in the audience, Scheidgen said a key person was missing at the Congress.
“It is too bad that Guiseppe Cosella isn’t here; I want to talk about REACH,” he said. “Safety involves not just sheer presence, but concentration and application.”
He called for a science-based approach estimate of the impact of the REACH Revision, pointing out that substances should not be restricted for their sheer presence (hazard approach).
“Paracelsus is still right, even after 500 years! The dose makes the poison. A science-based risk approach must take into account application and concentration!” he charged. “The EU Green Deal has the right intention but overshoots in effort and complexity; there is a need for a science-based risk approach, considering essentiality of chemicals.”
For more coverage of the World Surfactants Congress, click here.