Unilever, LanzaTech, India Glycols launch world’s first laundry capsule made from waste emissions

In the UK, Unilever has partnered with LanzaTech and India Glycols to produce a surfactant made from industrial carbon emissions instead of from fossil-fuels. The innovative shift in production utilises biotechnologies and a newly configured supply chain between the three partners, who are working together for the first time. The process marks the first time a surfactant made using captured carbon emissions will come to market in a cleaning product. The new surfactant will be used in an OMO (Persil) laundry capsule, which will launch in China on April 22nd, World Earth Day.

The process involves three stages:  1. Capture: LanzaTech uses biotechnology to capture waste industrial emissions at its Beijing Shougang LanzaTech plant in China and converts these emissions to ethanol. 2. Conversion: India Glycols Ltd converts the ethanol into ethylene oxide, a key feedstock to make surfactants at their site in India. 3. Formulation: Unilever uses the surfactant in the new OMO laundry capsules, manufactured at its Hefei factory in China. 

Typically derived from fossil fuels, surfactants are a critical ingredient for creating the foam and cleaning action of many household cleaning and laundry products, from dish soaps to fabric detergents. The new process now allows surfactants to be made using recycled carbon. 

A recent report published by the Nova Institute and Unilever in April 20211 estimates that demand for fossil-derived chemicals will more than double by 2050. Renewable carbon production will need to increase by a factor of 15 by 2050 to phase-out the use of fossil carbon in consumer products.