By Will Nichols, Source: BusinessGreen

Swapping the chemical compounds in detergents for biodegradable enzymes is not only an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional cleaning products, it can also save money right the way up the value chain.

That is according to Danish biotechnology company Novozymes, whose products have recently been used by detergent manufacturers such as Tide and Seventh Generation to improve washing performance.

For years washing powders have mainly used chemical surfactants to help get rid of stains, especially when washing in low temperatures, which many washing machine manufacturers recommend in order to reduce energy consumption.

However, Cynthia Bryant, director of business development and marketing in Novozymes’ household care division, told BusinessGreen that by enhancing enzymes found in nature, its products work better at lower temperatures and are more sustainable than “traditional chemistry that simply uses materials up”.

Novozymes says its enzymes it can reduce the petrochemical content in each package of detergent by up to 30 per cent, creating a less toxic product that begins to help manufacturers reduce their dependency on oil-based ingredients – and avoid associated price fluctuations.

“Enzymes take the problem [of toxic materials] out of the product to a certain extent,” said Bryant. “Surfactants suffer price volatility more than enzymes, which makes it hard [for manufacturers] to keep costs stable.”

She added that swapping out surfactants means manufacturers can use compact packaging, which lowers the price of transportation as well as the energy used.

Moreover, such compaction also helps retailers increase their revenue per square foot by fitting more products in a smaller space.

However, Bryant said the biggest gain from the technology may be still to come.

Unilever estimates consumers account for a massive 96 per cent of its overall greenhouse gas emissions and 26 per cent of its water footprint through the use of its products. As such, products that help cut consumer impacts, particularly in the large emerging markets of China and India, could have huge repercussions globally, argued Bryant.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” she predicted. “We can do a lot more with biology than we originally thought we could.”