Solvay: Tackling Climate Change

Posted by Chemlink in Chemlink Updates, Household Care Products, Personal Care Products | 0 comments

Climate change is a global emergency that’s affecting everyone – every individual, community, country and organisation. It’s therefore absolutely vital that we all continue to work together to collectively reduce our environmental impact as much as possible. 

Many organisations are already working hard to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and for personal care formulators to achieve this goal they need to review each product’s entire lifecycle: looking at how their ingredients are sourced, how the product is manufactured and distributed, how it’s used by the consumer and finally how it’s disposed. 

So how can Solvay help you in your mission to reduce your carbon footprint? Let’s take a look at the company’s climate change initiative. 

Solvay’s commitment to tackling climate change

Climate change is a key area in Solvay’s Beauty for the Planet initiative. The company is working tirelessly to source ingredients that are naturally derived, using renewable or upcycled raw materials as much as possible, and strives to operate its manufacturing processes using low-carbon energy. As part of its commitment to climate change, Solvay has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality across all businesses before 2050. 

As an ingredient supplier, Solvay is determined to help formulators reduce their carbon footprint through two avenues:

1. by utilising bio-based and ‘deforestation-free’ ingredients
2. by promoting new and innovative consumer routines.

Not only are these avenues beneficial for formulators – they’re beneficial for consumers too, with new routines creating possibilities for consumers to also reduce their water consumption and energy usage.

The diagram below gives you a good visual overview of the company’s global energy transition:

Solvay’s eco-friendly ingredients

Now let’s take a look at some of Solvay’s ingredients that can help you on your journey to reducing your carbon footprint. 

Rhodapex® ESB-70 NAT MB

This innovative ingredient is a completely bio-sourced sodium laureth sulphate, made with 100% renewable carbon. It’s preservative free, available in a viscous paste and is ideal for high-performance hair care and skin care formulations with demanding sustainability claims. 

Rhodapex® ESB-70 NAT MB provides identical performance compared to petro-based equivalents. Based on ethylene oxide made from sugarcane and fatty alcohol from palm oil, it is capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% over its life cycle.

Dermalcare® LIA MB

Dermalcare® LIA MB has impressive eco benefits: it’s COSMOS validated, RSPO MB certified and compliant with EU Ecolabel 2021/1870, is ‘Microbiome-friendly’ certified, considered ‘Readily biodegradable’ on Solvay’s Beauty Biodeg Score and has a net negative carbon footprint, helping formulators produce beauty products that take a major step towards carbon neutrality.

It is a 100% plant-based, non-toxic and non-irritating ester oil designed to take Circular Economy principles into account, and it delivers conditioning performance comparable to non-volatile silicones, like amodimethicone, with a light and natural touch. 

Dermalcare® LIA MB is suitable for high-performing hair conditioning formulations for all hair types with no heaviness or cleanliness issues and provides formulators with the possibility of formulating clear shampoos. It can also be used in some body and skin care applications.

Mirasoft® SL A60

As its name suggests, this is an ultra-mild, non-irritating co-surfactant. It’s 100% naturally derived, palm free and acidic rich, providing great benefits for skin, hair and scalp wellness and helping to preserve their microbial balance. Ongoing data suggests that this novel ingredient can help to improve skin and scalp conditions too.

Mirasoft® SL A60 is a low colour, highly active sophorolipid, produced by the fermentation of natural nutrients by natural yeast. It delivers effective cleansing, solubilisation and emulsification properties and again has some impressive eco benefits: it has a green fermentation process, is ‘Microbiome-friendly’ certified, has a low net CO₂ footprint, is COSMOS validated and is compliant without restriction with EU Ecolabel 2021/1870 for rinse-off and leave-on formulas.

Mirasoft® SL L60 

This multi-functional, gentle, non-irritating and 100% natural biosurfactant combines excellent co-surfactant properties with best-in-class biological activity (data ongoing). It’s a low-colour, auto-preserve, lactonic-rich, highly active sophorolipid produced by fermentation that offers the highest lactonic percentage among market products. 

Its outstanding cleansing, solubilisation and emulsification properties are coupled with excellent skin and scalp health benefits; the ingredient works to improve skin and scalp conditions by noticeably regulating sebum production, inhibiting microorganisms involved in acne, irritation and dandruff and can be useful in malodour control (data ongoing). 

Mirasoft® SL L60 is palm free and has a green fermentation process, is ‘Microbiome-friendly’ certified, has a low net CO₂ footprint, is COSMOS validated and compliant without restriction with EU Ecolabel 2021/1870 for rinse-off and leave-on formulas.

Reduce your formulation’s carbon footprint with Solvay’s innovative ingredients

If you’d like to find out more about how Solvay’s impressive eco-friendly ingredients could help you reduce your carbon footprint during the formulation process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our technical team via the contact form below. We’ll discuss these novel ingredients in more detail to help you decide which is most suitable for your specific formulation needs. We can also provide you with ingredient samples – simply ask us when you get in touch.