Improving sustainability profile of laundry high-concentrates using new Ziegler alcohol ethoxylates

Alcohol ethoxylates are the working-horses of nonionic surfactants used in laundry formulations and provide an excellent combination of performance, affordability and availability. For the hydrophobic moiety, Ziegler-based alcohols are an interesting alternative to natural based alcohols as both are linear and have even numbered carbon chains.

We break the paradigm of classical C_12-14 cuts and provide an alternative which helps to reduce solvent content in high-concentrates due to its well optimized carbon chain distribution. Using Ziegler-based short chain alcohols (C_8-10) in combination with long chain alcohols (C_16-18) for ethoxylates it is possible to reduce or even to avoid the use of solvents like propylene glycol while maintaining well flowable and clear liquid formulations for single unit doses and other high-concentrates. In any case, the washing performance is on the same high level as known for the classical C_12-14 alcohol based ethoxylates with 7 EO.

But what about sustainability and product carbon footprint? Customer demands, NGOs or regulations like EUDR or the supply chain act set traditional palm kernel oil derivatives heavily under pressure. Ziegler technology provides a synthetic deforestation-free alternative which fits in the needs of our time. Furthermore, it is a “future proof” technology as more sustainable raw materials like bio-based or circular ethylene – the raw material to build up Ziegler-alcohols and ethylene oxide – can be used with time resulting in stepwise reductions of the product carbon footprint. But even now, the use of state-of-the-art Ziegler technology for alcohol ethoxylates or ether sulfates can reduce the PCF up to 30% compared to the average PKO based derivative.