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Cepsa surfactant ‘has 80% lower carbon footprint’

8th June 2023

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

According to a lifecycle assessment carried out by an independent consultant and verified by a panel of three that was presented at the CESIO World Surfactant Congress in Rome on 5-7 June, the carbon footprint of Cepsa Química’s NextLab facility is 80% lower than that of a traditional linear alkyl benzene (LAB) facility. Greenhouse gas savings are put at 1,320 kg CO2/tonne of LAB produced.

NextLab uses renewable biomass that is certified as having been cultivated according to sustainability standards, i.e. not being from peat land and with no land use change over the last 20 years. It is said to be the first sustainable LAB, with the same technical and physicochemical qualities and properties as kerosene-based LAB.

The production process is performed under a mass balance chain of custody. It starts with obtaining renewable linear paraffins, transforming them into olefins, then alkylating, sulfonating and finally neutralising them to produce linear alkyl sulfonate (LAS), which is used in 60% of the biodegradable surfactant used in household and industrial detergents worldwide.

According to Cepsa, the reduced environmental footprint of makes it possible for formulators to improve the sustainability of their detergents without having to change their formulation or compromise on technical properties. By using NextLab, household detergent manufacturers can reduce their GWP index by up to 25%, the company claims.

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Indian agrochemicals giant UPL has announced plans to transfer its speciality chemicals business, including agrochemical

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

Nippon Shokubai's API Facility in Japan

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Andrew Warmington

Flamma's facility in Dalian

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

Sterling's facility at Deeside, UK

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

Afyren Neoxy plant

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

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Andrew Warmington

CBE JU funds 31 more projects

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Andrew Warmington

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Lubrizol's new office

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Andrew Warmington

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CCT collaboration for Givaudan

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REACH Authorisation

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Andrew Warmington

Staff at Brenntag's newly acquired Czech site

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Andrew Warmington