VAIOS BARLAS, NATHALY JO
1. Head of Technical Application, Clariant, Germany
2. Sustainability Manager, Clariant, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

Net Zero targets are racing up the priority agenda of Personal Care and Home Care. In the face of legislative and brand commitments on emission reduction, consideration of the carbon footprint of individual formulation ingredients and their raw materials is a crucial challenge in improving sustainability across the whole production chain.
With increasing use of sugar-based surfactants for milder formulations, Clariant supports the industry in its low-carbon ingredient decision-making with a cradle-to-gate assessment comparing Glucamides to coco-based alkylamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) and Cetyl-Alkyl Polyglucosides (Cetyl-APG). Taking into account biogenic carbon storage and excluding land use change, we evaluate the results and comprehensive findings to aid formulators in reducing the carbon footprint of consumer formulations.

INTRODUCTION
In addition to working to cut emissions and switch to green energy in their production, climate conscious companies are seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of the raw materials they use and the processes in their value chain. The most ambitious companies are setting climate targets in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the legally binding international treaty on climate change signed by most of the world’s governments, and Europe’s Green Deal goal of climate-neutrality by 2050. Many large, medium and smaller manufacturers across value chains are aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in areas such as responsible consumption and production.

For the heavily consumer-focused Personal Care and Home Care industries, addressing growing awareness and concerns over climate change and the environmental impacts of products is particularly relevant and increasingly evident. Consideration of the carbon footprint of individual formulation ingredients and their raw materials is a crucial challenge in improving sustainability across the whole production chain, and for supporting greater transparen ...