German chemical and biotech giant BASF has partnered with Brazilian-German company INOCAS to scale up Macaúba oil supply for the personal care product sector.
The partnership includes financing INOCAS’ plans to expand Macaúba oil production in Brazil on an industrial scale, the companies said in a joint statement on 11 December.
A native tree in Brazil, Macaúba or Acrocomia aculeata is adapted to semi-arid conditions and low-quality soils and its fruits can be processed into pulp oil, kernel oil and residual biomass.
As part of the agreement, INOCAS will supply BASF with both kernel and pulp oil.
BASF will use the Macaúba kernel oil from INOCAS in its Personal and Home Care portfolio in Brazil and Europe.
Commercial pilot volumes would be available in 2025, the companies said.
“Our Care Chemicals division is committed to securing and diversifying its supply of sustainable raw materials. A significant portion of our products are derived from renewable sources such as natural oils,” BASF president Care Chemicals Mary Kurian said.
“Macaúba kernel oil represents a new sustainable opportunity.”
The pulp oil can be used in the process of obtaining bio-naphtha, which then can be converted into polymers, solvents, detergents, lubricants, synthetic fibres, fuels and other products.
Regular Macaúba pulp oil offtake for use as an alternative feedstock to substitute fossil resources would start in 2027, the companies said.
BASF said using Macaúba pulp oil in its bio-naphtha pool and for its mass-balance portfolio would enable it to offer more products based on renewable raw materials and with a lower product carbon footprint (PCF).
INOCAS has been developing, implementing and refining a model to cultivate Macaúba trees on degraded pastureland since 2015.
Working in partnership with smallholder farmers, INOCAS said it aimed to plant at least 50,000ha of Macaúba by 2030.
The system supported regenerative agriculture by combining forestry and livestock farming without an additional land use change and also had positive impacts on soil quality, erosion control and biodiversity, the company said.
“The strategic partnership with BASF will allow us to scale up our activities rapidly, generating significant positive social, environmental and climate impacts, by increasing the productivity of degraded farmlands, expanding habitat for native fauna and contributing to climate change mitigation,” INOCAS CEO Johannes Zimpel said.
BASF’s portfolio is organised into six segments: chemicals; materials; industrial solutions; surface technologies; nutrition & care and agricultural solutions.