More Sustainable Surfactants for Home & Personal Cleaning Products
Surfactants are at the center of our efforts to drive the sustainable transformation of our raw materials. It’s a key ingredient for detergents and shampoos as well as provides dirt and grease-removing power. However, many surfactants today are fossil-based, which is not renewable, or derived from natural inputs whose sourcing has secondary, negative impacts. We are calling on creative minds in the market to help us find new, sustainable ingredients that are based on natural raw materials that optimize environmental, economic and social impacts. We are committed to pursuing sustainable and purposeful growth, and we would be excited to have you join us to strive for a more sustainable future.
#renewableingredients #natureinspiredsurfactants
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Read more about the specific challenge and how YOU can help Henkel on their journey to sustainable cleaning products.
More Sustainable Surfactants for Home & Personal Cleaning Products
Henkel wants to actively drive the transformation to a sustainable economy and society, help to protect and regenerate the natural environment, and contribute to strengthening association and trust with our stakeholders.
In order to have sustainable development, Henkel wants to reduce the impact on climate and nature and deliver high-standard value to consumers by transforming raw materials and products.
One of the relevant fields of action for the optimization of sustainable practices lies in the use of certain materials such as surfactant systems. At Henkel Consumer Brands, we produce heave-duty detergents, hard surface/WC cleaners, shampoos, hair colorants etc., in which surfactant is one of the key ingredients that provides dirt/grease removing power. However, many surfactants today are fossil-based, which is not renewable, or derived from natural inputs whose sourcing has secondary, negative impacts.
Henkel is therefore looking for alternatives to make the existing systems and the resulting cleaning products more sustainable.
The new surfactant should be compatible with other formula ingredients like enzymes, builders, polymers, solvents etc., and the ingredients together can be stable and synergistic.
The Challenge
To achieve the sustainability transformation of raw materials, one of the key challenges to be tackled is the identification of a more sustainable surfactant system for the products, while keeping the same cleaning and compatible performance. On the long run, the price can be competitive by using economy of scale.
Key Questions
- How can Henkel deliver a sustainable surfactant system for their consumer products without compromising on the performance?
- What alternative cost-effective processing technologies are suitable for such a desired performance?
- How can the application of the given substances be processed in a more sustainable manner with net zero emissions and without any negative impact on the environment?
More Information on the challenge's requirements can be found in the tab 'Important Details' as well as 'Submission'.