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1% APG surfactant SLES Conventional Biosurfactant 1G
Biosurfactant 'AmphiCare'
Figure 3: Foam height comparison of market standards of conventional surfactant (SLES) and market reference of sophorolipids from 1G feedstock and fully Upcycled SL A derived from 2G feedstock
transportation of crude oil. In contrast, the upcycling of bio-based waste and side streams into microbial biosurfactants prevents the release of long-sequestered carbon, offering a more sustainable alternative.
No use of palm oil Palm oil production is a leading cause of deforestation, as land is cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. This contributes significantly to climate change by reducing carbon sequestration and disrupting essential ecological processes. In contrast, upcycling bio-based waste and
by-products avoids direct land-use change, using leftover biological matter from other processes that would otherwise be discarded. These can include food waste and by-products of the bio-based economy, such as potato peels which are an abundant by-product of industrial fried potato production.
Avoids long logistic chains - The global transportation of petroleum and palm oil from production regions to surfactant manufacturing plants relies heavily on fossil fuels, leading to substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Making use of locally sourced bio-based waste and by- products, enables a considerable reduction in the need for long transportation chains.
No use of high-energy production processes - Classic surfactant production processes have significant energy needs as they typically operate at high temperatures (mostly achieved through the combustion of fossil fuels) and pressures. Our bio-based production uses a
fermentation-based production process similar to brewing beer or wine which is a clean, safe
www.personalcaremagazine.com 2G
1% SLES
AmphiCare A
1%
1% Novel AmphiStar BS
1% Novel AmphiStar BS 2
1% Novel AmphiStar BS 3
Figure 4: Maximum foam height comparison (Ross Miles) of market standards of conventional surfactant (APG and SLES) and fully Upcycled SL A derived from 2G feedstock together with three completely novel microbial biosurfactant molecules from AmphiStar’s Synbio platform all evaluated at 1% in water
TABLE 1: CHARACTERISTICS OF UPCYCLED SL A AND UPCYCLED SL L Product Name
Product form Manufacturing Appearance
Formulating pH range
Product features and attributes HLB
and mild bioprocess with much lower energy demands compared to classic surfactant production processes.
No direct land use - Palm oil-based surfactants and sugar or vegetable oil-based microbial biosurfactants rely on land and agricultural practices for production. These practices contribute to climate change by emitting nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, through the use of nitrogen fertilizers. They also cause soil erosion, which releases from the soil. Further increasing the demand
CO2
for bio-based surfactants made from virgin bio-based feedstocks would require extensive agricultural expansion, leading to further habitat destruction, increased water consumption and greater fertilizer use—all of which exacerbate climate change. Bio-based waste and side streams do not require direct agricultural practices and their reuse helps prevent the release of greenhouse gases that would otherwise be emitted if the waste were sent to landfills or used for biofuel production. Many of the downsides of fossil and palm
oil-based surfactants can be overcome by using fully upcycled or so-called second-generation
Upcycled SL A and Upcycled SL L Liquid
Waste-and side streams, yeast fermentation Light amber colour; translucent neat, transparent 3.0-11.0 (A), 3.0-7.0 (L)
100% bio-based, fully-upcycled, biodegradable, 1,4- dixane-free, palm-and sulphate-free
13.0 (A); 11.0 (L)
feedstocks. Innovative and (economical) sustainable pretreatment methods have been developed to convert side and waste streams into pumpable and sufficiently purified feedstocks to feed into the bioprocess.. These streams are then placed into
a bioreactor—as opposed to a chemical reactor—in which efficient ‘biocatalysts’ can be introduced; yeast microbes that will convert these pretreated bio-based waste feedstocks into microbial biosurfactants. The first step, called the growth phase, generates sufficient microbial biomass to complete the reaction. This is accomplished by inoculating the feedstock in the bioreactor with microbial cells. As the microbes multiply, microbial
biomass/biocatalysts are created. This step of the process can be compared to adding yeast to dough to make it rise (yeast is added to bread to generate biogenic CO2
in the dough, which
causes the bread to rise). When the microbes have multiplied enough they start converting the rest of the bio-based waste into microbial biosurfactants. An image of one strain together with some biosurfactant crystals is shown in Figure 1. When fermentation is complete, the upcycled
August 2025 PERSONAL CARE
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Foam Height
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