Switching to sustainable surfactants

Abstract

As personal care product makers go green, surfactants are at the center of their efforts. Cleansers, lotions, and cosmetics all need surfactants to mix oils and water—either to hold the formulations together or to provide dirt-and-grease-removing power. But many surfactants today are synthetic or semisynthetic. In response to a customer base that is increasingly concerned about sustainability, major brands are pledging to cut their carbon emissions and eliminate fossil-derived carbon in their products. Chemical firms are responding with biobased surfactants and ways to make existing products from biomass feedstocks. Personal care is going green at a breakneck pace. While most industries, including the chemical industry, are targeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the consumer product brands that make soap, shampoo, lotion, and cosmetics are setting their sustainability goals at 2030, just 8 years away. Those goals are also broader than just carbon dioxide emissions. When people buy personal care