Evonik has manufactured the first product from its industrial-scale biosurfactants facility at Slovenská Lupca in Slovakia. This has thereby become the first plant anywhere in the world to produce sustainable rhamnolipid biosurfactants.

Slovenská Lupca produces rhamnolipids via a proprietary fermentation process that uses European corn sugar as the main raw material. They are fully biodegradable, with a low toxicological and ecotoxicological profile, as well as being entirely biobased.

Evonik has entered into a technological cooperation agreement with the AgTech Garage innovation centre in the Piracicaba Technology Park in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This came shortly after the company opened its new ‘Agro Hub’ at Americana in the same start AgTech Garage is described as an innovation hub that seeks to connect start-ups, producers, investors, academics, scientists and others in the development of sustainable agribusiness.

Consumer products giant Unilever has announced plans to source all of the carbon-based materials in its cleaning and laundry products from renewable or recycled sources, thus throwing down the gauntlet to chemical suppliers.  According to Unilever, this will cut the carbon footprint of its product formulations by up to 20%, since the chemicals it uses in cleaning and account for 46% – of that footprint. The company’s most famous brands include Persil, Omo, Domestos, Cif and Sunlight.