The sustainable potential of enzymes within detergency
Sustainable process-product development & green chemistry
Sustainable & Clean Technologies - Ib: Extraction & Remediation (T1-4b)
Keywords: Enzymes, Detergency, Sustainability
Enzymes have been applied for stain removal and fabric maintenance for more than four decades. Over the years, more types of enzymes have been developed and the enzymes products have continuously been optimized for better performance to fit the requirements in modern washing products and washing procedures. Today a wide range of enzyme products is available for removal of proteins, lipids, starch and other types of carbohydrates. Also enzymes for removal of particulate matter and fabric care are today available.
Detergent manufacturers have started widening their view on application of enzymes. Today’s enzymes have the potential of partially substituting classical detergent ingredients like surfactants. There are several drivers for this new way of looking at enzymes. First of all the increasing oil prices have put focus on technologies which are not linked to the oil price. Furthermore, from a sustainability point of view enzymes are very attractive ingredients. They work catalytically so only very minute amounts of active material are needed in the wash. Enzymes typically work very well at low temperature meaning they are key ingredients when formulating products effective at lower wash temperatures.
In this presentation, wash performance is presented with a detergent composition having varying amount of surfactants compensated with an enzyme cocktail at cost neutrality. The results are pre-sented at 20, 30, 40 and 60˚C wash temperature. A life cycle assessment study is also described comparing the environmental impact of lowering the wash temperature while maintaining the overall wash performance unchanged by addition of enzymes.
Looking into the future, there is no doubt that biotechnology will offer new opportunities for the detergent industry. Beyond new and better detergent enzymes, biotechnology is expected to influence the detergent industry both directly with new types of ingredients and also indirectly by biotechnological routes for production of chemical ingredients.
Presented Wednesday 19, 16:40 to 17:00, in session Sustainable & Clean Technologies - Ib: Extraction-Remediation (T1-4b).
