The demand for environmentally friendly cleaning agents is also growing in Southeast Asia.
(Photo: Imago/Westend61)
Dusseldorf The specialty chemicals group Evonik is expanding its partnership with the consumer goods group Unilever. Evonik is investing a low three-digit million amount in a new plant for cleaning agents in Slovakia, as the Essen-based group announced on Friday. With the bio-based materials produced there, Unilever wants to make its products more environmentally friendly.
The consumer goods group has set itself the goal of producing its cleaning products without using crude oil by 2030. The surfactants used, which, for example, allow oil and water to mix and thus produce the cleaning effect of detergents and dishwashing detergents, should then be obtained entirely from natural raw materials. The substances are usually made from crude oil or from tropical fats such as palm oil.
In years of research, Evonik has developed a new surfactant technology that is now ready for the market. The so-called rhamnolipids are obtained from sugar and are particularly biocompatible and biodegradable.
The rhamnolipids are to be used on a large scale in the future because consumers are increasingly asking for sustainable cleaning agents – and not only in the western markets. Unilever has successfully tested the sugar-based dishwashing liquid in smaller markets such as Chile and Vietnam.
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Successful tests in Vietnam
Global marketing will start in the next few years. The new Evonik plant in Slovakia is scheduled to start production in two years at the latest.
The location there will thus continue to develop into the biotech center of the Essen company. For Evonik, the investment and the supply to Unilever should only be the beginning. The novel bio-based lipids could also be used in shower gels, tooth cleaning or cosmetic products.
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