Surfactants are currently produced using unsustainable resources
Palm oil is the most produced, traded, and consumed vegetable oil in the world according to the World Wildlife Foundation. The perfect habitat for palm trees is low terrain in tropical wet areas where the rainforest is located. The areas are mainly placed in Indonesia and Malaysia but expansion to central and South America and Africa have started to meet the global demand for palm oil.
Palm tree plantations between 2000 – 2010 have alone accounted for 2 million ha deforestation which accounts for 1.8 billion tons CO2 equivalents of greenhouse gas emissions
– nature magazine
New alternative raw materials, as well as sustainable technologies to produce surfactants, are in short supply. The world needs new surfactants that do not use palm or palm kernel oil and fossil sources but focus on local and sustainable raw materials.
It is time to say no to fossil sources and palm or palm kernel oil and yes to new local raw materials and sustainable technologies for active and stabilizing ingredients.