Specialty Chemicals - Clariant has announced a new approach to sustainable innovation. The EcoTain life cycle and label is driven by the specialty chemical company's commitment to protect human, environmental and ecological health without compromising on performance and efficiency. EcoTain represents Clariant's approach to sustainability at the product level and is being systematically rolled out throughout the company.

Michael Reubold asked Silvia Ziebold, global marketing manager at Clariant's Business Unit Industrial and Consumer Specialties, about this strategy.

CHEManager Europe: The chemical industry is seeing a growing trend of eco-awareness among consumers and a strong demand for more natural, sustainable products. How does Clariant approach sustainability?

Silvia Ziebold: Clariant is fully committed to sustainability, and the company takes responsibility for the environment, its employees, its customers and the society. Sustainability at Clariant is an integral part of the corporate strategy, and with the introduction of the new Clariant brand in 2012, "Performance, People, Planet" even became the company's core brand values. This reflects how important we consider sustainability to be.

Sustainability is well established in our company, and all our activities and measures with regard to sustainability are supported by a strong structural framework: from guidelines (Sustainability Policy) and standards and processes (Global Management System), to a proper internal institution (Sustainability Council).

Clariant has not limited itself to compliance with legal requirements, but goes far beyond, participating in various voluntary sustainability programs - including the duties imposed by the Responsible Care Global Charter and the Global Product Strategy. Clariant has set clear, qualitative sustainability goals to match our strategic alignment, such as further increasing our system safety, improving our products through continuous research, running more efficient programs for employee qualification and stepping up communication with our stakeholders. Our environmental goals, such as steadily decreasing the specific consumption of water and power, and reducing waste and pollution, have a long-term perspective through the year 2020.

At the product level, our EcoTain concept shows how corporate sustainability goals are "translated" into very concrete products and customer solutions.

How does the EcoTain approach support the development of specialty chemicals?

Silvia Ziebold: The world population is growing, while the natural resources available for industrial use are limited. As the cost of raw materials has increased, the industry is under increasing pressure to find ways of using fewer raw materials and less energy. At the same time, a growing trend of eco-awareness among consumers has developed, and demand for more natural, sustainable products is strong.
EcoTain represents a systematic approach to sustainable innovation by providing a tangible means of understanding the ecological, economic and social impact of Clariant's products over the entire value chain.

Within the framework of a four-step life cycle, EcoTain integrates the principles and ethics of sustainability into business activities according to measurable criteria.

The four steps are: sustainable design, responsible process, safe and efficient use, and eco-integration.
Every EcoTain product fulfills the EcoTain requirements over its entire life cycle. The EcoTain claim "sustainable excellence at every step" is a promise that every product carrying the EcoTain label delivers advantages and benefits at each of its four life cycle steps.

Clariant products serve various applications from personal and home care to crop protection and even aviation. Is the EcoTain concept suitable for the full array of these end-applications?

Silvia Ziebold: Yes, that was one of the key requirements when we developed EcoTain. The objective was to create a concept that provides customer value and is easy to understand, but is still flexible and can be applied to products for different end-markets.

It took us some time to come up with the right concept due to the complexity of the market requirements and the different connotations of "sustainability." In our analysis, we considered different market segments - from personal care to aviation, different regions - Asia, North and Latin America and EMEA, different customer types - from small, midsize to multinationals, and all other market influencers - such as ecolabel certifier and regulatory authorities.
The final result is simple but smart. EcoTain is based on a life-cycle idea, focusing on the product development, manufacturing, consumption and disposal. This is common for all market segments - it doesn't matter if they are consumer- or industrial-driven.

This means, there are certain sustainability criteria or aspects that are relevant for all of our customers. For example, that products are based on safer ingredients or even contain renewable raw materials, that products help our customers to reduce handling efforts at their site or to increase the efficiency in the end formulation, and that products have a better environmental profile and are biodegradable. We have defined around 20 general criteria.

We also consider market-specific requirements in addition to this. For instance, the use of raw materials that are non-animal based or free of gene-modified organisms is relevant for personal care, but not for paint and coatings where the substance of concern is APEO - short for alkylphenol ethoxylates. Our EcoTain additives for paints are APEO-free as well as low VOC. When speaking about ecolabels, in personal care we offer ingredients that are Ecocert certified and in paints and coatings our products are compatible with the Blue Angel or the EU Ecoflower requirements. For each market segment we have defined additional four to five business-specific criteria.

By doing so, we are able to offer sustainable products for different market segments that help our customers to gain a valuable competitive advantage.

How will EcoTain support your customers toward achieving their targets for sustainability?

Silvia Ziebold: Many companies have set sustainability targets they want to achieve in the short, mid- or long term. Clariant also has defined clear, qualitative goals. In my opinion, this is a positive signal to the different stakeholders, and it reflects the company's commitment to more sustainability.
But in the context of a sales conversation, a customer would prefer to know how Clariant can help to meet the consumer requirements for more eco-friendly end products, to comply with requirements from regulatory bodies or to help them achieve their own sustainability targets.

EcoTain products are safer products and suitable for safer application systems. They are more efficient in the end formulation (you need less) or more convenient (easy-to-use). Most of them are based on renewable feedstocks, are compatible with ecolabels from external certifiers or have a reduced carbon footprint. And EcoTain products can be used to replace substances that have been banned by the authorities or substances facing criticism that are likely to be banned in the future.

Let me give you concrete examples that help our customers to achieve their sustainability targets:

Hostacerin SFO supports our customers in developing end products with a reduced carbon footprint. How?
Hostacerin SFO is an emulsifier - based on 100 % renewable raw material - for cosmetic creams and lotions. The manufacturing process at Clariant is very energy efficient: Hostacerin SFO is produced in a low temperature oil process, done in a single-step reaction, and so leading to reduced CO2 formation. Additionally yield is 100 %, i.e., no byproducts or waste products are generated. The production is according to cosmetic good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

But also at the customer site the product has potential to save energy. Hostacerin SFO is cold-processable and can be incorporated in the cream formulation at room temperature. The normal blending temperature for cosmetics is around 80° C.

Another example is our recycling concept for aircraft deicing fluids, such as our Safewing MPI 1938 ECO that helps to cut down CO2 emission tremendously. The concept covers the collection of around 60 %-70 % fluid, followed by a recycling process, which involves mechanical and chemical cleaning, and the recycled fluid can then be stored for future use. The remaining 30 %-40 % of the fluid remains on the aircraft wing and falls to the runway after takeoff. The material is 100 % biodegradable in 10 days at 8° C according to OECD301E. At Oslo airport an annual reduction of 2,800 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent has been achieved.

When we observe the life cycle of a specialty chemical product, where or when does EcoTain enter the development process?

Silvia Ziebold: Focus on research and development and innovation is one of the key pillars of Clariant's corporate strategy. Our objective is to improve the innovation success rate and generate additional growth of 1 %-2 % by launching innovative products.

Already at the very early stage of a product development, the business unit Industrial and Consumer Specialties considers all internal and external requirements ranging from chemical composition, technical product properties, and production capabilities to sustainability aspects. We have a very structured approach to handle new projects and from the initial project idea to the final commercial phase we process our "checklist" from stage to stage. By doing so, we ensure we deliver innovative solutions that bring added value to our customers' formulations and that have a high potential of sustainable, i.e. long-term, business success.

EcoTain is being systematically rolled out throughout the company. Crop Protection and Paints and Coatings were the first business lines to bring their most sustainable products under the EcoTain umbrella; further business lines will follow.

New sustainable ingredients are also currently in the innovation pipeline and will soon be launched under the EcoTain label.

Does the EcoTain approach accompany the product throughout the manufacturing process from its application all the way until its disposal?

Silvia Ziebold: A holistic approach expressed in a four-phase life cycle, EcoTain provides a means of assessing and understanding the ecological, economic and social impact of Clariant's products and business activities over the entire value chain. From the initial chemical design all the way through the product life cycle to recycling and waste disposal, EcoTain supports sustainable technologies and processes for safer chemical products.
For a product to be awarded the EcoTain label by Clariant, it should present benefits at every phase of its life cycle. And naturally it is Clariant's aim to ensure that the maximum number of criteria is met in order to live up to our goal of sustainable innovation.

Can you give us examples of products that have been developed according to the EcoTain approach?

Silvia Ziebold: Two examples of different market segments - personal care, and paints and coatings - may illustrate the flexibility of the EcoTain approach: First, Vitipure products are used in cosmetics, especially in skin care formulations such as anti-aging creams. Second, Dispersogen MT200 is a nonionic, surfactant-based dispersing agent for use in water-borne colorants.

Do you have to compromise the product performance in order to meet the EcoTain standards?

Silvia Ziebold: No, quite the contrary! Product performance and increased formulation efficiency are essential parts of the EcoTain concept and its products. EcoTain's aim is to create "sustainable business" - i.e., long-lasting business success - with sustainable products. Therefore EcoTain is a combination of efficiency and sustainability and it provides our customers with balanced cost-performance solutions. This means increased efficiency by performance boosting and/or multifunctional products and cost reductions by saving resources and higher efficiency in technology, manufacturing.
For example, the product Texcare SRA 300F, a soil release polymer used in laundry detergents, is highly efficient at low concentrations, delivers easy stain removal at washing temperatures below 30° C and additionally increases the efficacy of the detergent. This efficiency increase helps to save resources: detergent, water and energy. Additionally, Texcare SRA 300F is neither skin nor eye irritating, is hazard-label-free and has reduced effects on the environment.

Another product example is Synergen OS, an adjuvant used in agrochemical formulation. The product is made up of around 95 % bio-based substances and contains no toxic nonylphenol ethoxylates - NPEOs. Not only does Synergen OS maximize the use of renewable resources, but it also saves resources thanks to its adjuvant effect. Synergen OS acts as a foliar penetration enhancer. It improves the mobility of the active ingredient into the plant cuticle. This means, Synergen OS increases the efficacy of the agrochemical formulation and the farmer needs less product to protect his crops.