BASF signs two biosurfactant agreements

RENEWABLE NEWS BASF signs two biosurfactant agreements

German chemical and biotech giant BASF announced on 10 March that it had signed biosurfactant agreements with Japan-based Allied Carbon Solutions (ACS) and UKbased Holiferm for an undisclosed sum.

The alliance with surfactants-from-biomass provider ACS includes an equity stake, making BASF the single largest shareholder. It also includes technology cooperation, commercial agreement and product development for sophorolipids, a class of glycolipids. In the agreement with UK start-up company Holiferm, BASF will help develop and manufacture fermentation-derived ingredients for other classes of glycolipids with potential use in home care, industrial formulators and personal care products.

“While BASF already has solid innovation and production capabilities for surfactants, we are always scouting for opportunities to work with partners well-rooted in technologies ... to expand our product portfolio with additional bio-based products,” said BASF care chemicals president Ralph Schweens.

In collaboration with ACS, BASF developed BioToLife, a novel sophorolipid-based ingredient produced via fermentation technology, for use in skin, scalp and oral care applications. The product was launched in Asia in the second quarter of 2020.

BASF’s care chemicals division portfolio includes surfactants, emulsifiers, polymers, emollients and cosmetic ingredients.

IN BRIEF

USA/CANADA: Global speciality chemical and ingredient company Univar Solutions announced on 1 February that it had agreed to become the main distributor of Sasol Chemical’s alcohol and surfactant products in the USA and Canada.

The deal expanded Univar’s portfolio to include Sasol’s ALFOL alcohols and ALFONIC, Novel and SAFOL surfactants for the home care and industrial cleaning, personal care, coatings, agriculture and energy markets.

South Africa-based Sasol said the move would allow it to gain packaging and shipping efficiencies, reducing plastic use and fuel consumption. The firm supplies a portfolio of speciality chemicals for a wide range of applications and industries and is active in the Americas, Eurasia and southern Africa.

BRAZIL: Braskem will expand its capacity to produce green ethylene, a raw material produced from sugarcane ethanol and used to produce renewable resins, Biofuels Digest reported on 24 February.

The US$61M expansion project at Braskem’s industrial unit in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, would increase capacity from the current 200,000 tonnes/ year, to 260,000 tonnes/year.

Biofuels Digest said that work should start in 2021 and be completed fourth quarter 2022.

EU cosmetics can use hemp-derived CBD

The European Commission (EC) has added hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) to its cosmetic ingredient database CosIng, meaning that CBD derived from extracts, tinctures or resin of Cannabis sativa L (hemp) could now be used in cosmetics in the EU, Hemp Today reported on 2 February.

The ruling followed a French case that went before the European Union Court of Justice in October 2020 in which the high court ruled that CBD could not be regarded as a narcotic and that CBD products should enjoy the same free movement of goods between and among member states as other legal products.

The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) welcomed the EC decision.

“I feel like the legal clarity we are asking for is about to come,” EIHA managing direc-

Hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) can now be used in EU cosmetics tor Lorenza Romanese said on 2 February.

The EC’s CosIng database provides information on cosmetics substances and ingredients for member states and aims to harmonise the marketing of cosmetics products across Europe. CBD is one of the two most common compounds found in cannabis and does not contain any psychoactive properties. CBD demand for food, health and cosmetic applications has soared in recent years.

Go-ahead for new crude tall oil refineries

Finnish crude tall oil (CTO) refiner Fintoil is going ahead with plans to invest US$121.6M in a new refinery in the Finnish port of HaminaKotka, Bioenergy International reported on 9 February.

The company said it expected the 200,000 tonnes/year plant to start operations in mid- 2022. The plant would refine CTO to produce feedstock for second generation renewable diesel (HVO) and would use other fractions from its process to supply the chemicals, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals industries, Bioenergy International said.

CTO is a by-product of the Kraft wood pulp manufacture process and is a component in many chemicals including renewable diesel processing products, lubricants, adhesives and others. It is classified as a sustainable feedstock for advanced biofuels in the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

Flintoil said the climate footprint of CTO derivatives was up to 90% lower than its fossil counterparts, which meant its new biorefinery would bring a 400,000 tonne reduction – around 1% of Finland’s total emissions – in CO₂ emissions.

In the USA, speciality chemicals firm Mainstream Pine Products is also planning to build a US$90M CTO biorefinery at the Charleston International Manufacturing Center in Berkeley county. The facility would have the capacity to process 110,000 tonnes of CTO and construction was expected to begin later this year, with operations starting in 2023, the company said on 26 January.