US-based biotech research company Future Origins – a joint venture majority-owned by industrial biotech firm Geno – has scaled up production of its zero-deforestation ingredient for surfactants, Personal Care Insights wrote.
Future Origins was founded by Geno, Unilever, Kao and L'Oréal to commercialise and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for surfactants such as laundry detergent and face wash, PR Newswire reported when the company was launched last January.
The company’s Nalo product could be used as an alternative to the C-12/C14 fatty alcohols commonly used to produce surfactants, which are part of formulations for products such as face cleansers and laundry detergents, the 24 October Personal Care Insights report said.
To date, more than 10 tonnes of in-spec material had been produced at an integrated refining facility, the company was quoted as saying.
“Global demand for personal and household cleaning products continues to rise, with the surfactants market projected to grow into a US$57bn industry by 2028. As this industry grows, manufacturers face an increasing challenge around sourcing sustainable materials,” John Gugel, the company’s CEO, told Personal Care Insights.
“The demonstration-scale success of Nalo shows that Future Origins can meet their volume, performance and sustainability requirements, making it a credible … alternative for their supply chains,” he says.
Future Origins produces Nalo using proprietary fermentation-based technology and highly engineered microorganisms developed by industrial biotechnology company Genomatica.
“We’ve developed and scaled up this technology to ferment plant-based sugars at an industrial scale to manufacture this drop-in replacement,” Gugel added.
Future Origins said it would source locally grown, plant-based feedstocks that offered greater traceability and a lower carbon footprint than the current C-12/C14 fatty alcohols used across the personal and home care industry.
Gugel said the company had plans for a commercial-scale manufacturing plant, with potential sites being considered in US states where the necessary feedstocks were available.
