What Makes A Biobased Product?

Posted by Chemlink in Personal Care Products | 0 comments

Clariant, one of our principal suppliers, recently announced that their natural preservation booster Velsan® CGE is now a USDA Certified Biobased Product. So what is a biobased product, and why is certification important?

What are biobased products?

Biobased products are derived from plants and other renewable agricultural, marine and forestry materials (e.g. wood, crops and fibres). They provide an alternative to conventional petroleum derived products.

What is the USDA Certified Biobased Product label?

The label is designed to provide useful information to consumers about the biobased content of a product; it “assures a consumer that the product contains a USDA-verified amount of renewable biological ingredients” (USDA). In practice, this means that the product has been tested at an independent third party laboratory and has met a “minimum biobased content” set by the USDA (see USDA website for more information).

Why use biobased ingredients in your formulations?

Using these ingredients can improve both the performance and the environmental impact of your formulations. They reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and our CO2 emissions, and their more complex chemistry gives them a performance advantage over petroleum-based ingredients, helping formulators unlock additional benefits and functionality more easily. 

Biobased products also satisfy growing consumer desire for natural and sustainable products. Find out more about them on the NNFCC website. 

Try Velsan® CGE for yourself

If you’re looking to use more biobased ingredients in your skincare formulations, try Velsan® CGE. With a 100% Renewable Carbon Index, a USDA Certified Biobased Product label and COSMOS approval, Velsan® CGE is the clear choice for formulators who want to meet future demand for natural, sustainable ingredients. As an ether it’s also much more pH stable than an ester, so you can use it across a broad pH range.

Read more about Velsan® CGE here or get in touch for more technical information and to request a sample.