Unilever Invests in Biotech Partnership to ID Alternative Cleaning Ingredients

Unilever and Nufarm, a global agriculture innovator, are partnering cultivate a crop with significant biomass to produce sustainable oils. The biomass oil will be a source of fatty acids for laundry detergents and beauty and personal care products.

Nufarm has previously developed and commercialized a variety of sugar cane called energy cane, a sustainable crop which generates significantly more plant matter and sugar than traditional sugar cane. Unilever says its investment will leverage recent breakthroughs in biotechnology to develop a new, commercially viable variety of energy cane that can also produce biomass oil.

This would mark the first time a biomass crop has been optimized to produce the plant-based oil which, if successfully grown at scale, will be used as an ingredient in consumer goods products, said Unilever.

In its current form, energy cane already has sustainability benefits such as climate stress tolerance, drought resistance and more efficient protection of soil against erosion. It also has harvesting benefits for farmers and the environment, according to Unilever. The project aims to replicate and build on these traits in the new crop which would contribute to its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction ambitions in ingredient sourcing.

As well as being more robust, the aim is for no parts of the crop to go to waste. In addition to oil, the plant will also continue to produce sugar, which could be used in other biotechnology processes to generate speciality ingredients such as fragrances and enzymes, according to Unilever. The maker of Dove ways it will also explore if the leftover plant fiber can be used to produce paper and board for packaging.

“By continuing to invest in biotechnology, we aim to further unlock the power of nature and build a more sustainable and diverse supply chain for the future,” said Neil Parry, head of biotechnology at Unilever. “This partnership enables us to identify alternative ingredients for our household, beauty and personal care brands which will further support our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our value chain by 2039.”