Preparing for the Future - The world is a rapidly changing place, and the global lack of resources is an important issue for all industries. This has put pressure on manufacturers of surfactants and other ingredients in cosmetics and detergents to look for sustainable resources to coincide with this growing trend.

This and many other topics will be up for discussion at the 58th annual Sepawa Congress in Fulda, Germany, Oct. 12-14. The changing resource situation will be one of the most essential topics.

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Peter Wittern, chairman of the Sepawa and director of R&D at Beiersdorf, talked to CHEManager Europe about how industry is going to prepare for it.

CHEManager Europe: At the age of 58, many people begin thinking about retirement; that's also how many times the Sepawa Congress has been held. Does that mean that things will settle and stay in the old rut?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: If you just retrace the trend of the recent 10 years, you will find the Sepawa vitally alive and innovative. After all, it moved twice in these 10 years - from Bad Dürkheim to Würzburg, then from there to Fulda - and has expanded from year to year. We have been able to enlist the cooperation of further professional associations, such as the German Society for Scientific and Applied Cosmetics (DGK). This has helped to make the Sepawa Congress one of the most prestigious events in this field. If you just consider the content of the event, stagnation is simply not an option.

All of the lecture sections of the congress are oriented towards progress in R&D, and for many cosmetic products and in the perfume branch towards the most recent trends. Experience, of course gives reliable support to events of this order. Thus more than 1,600 visitors are expected for October. Since the beginning of 2011 the exhibition stands have been booked out by new record numbers of exhibitors.

Sepawa is posting increasing registration numbers, even though the CESIO World Surfactants Congress took place this year in Vienna. Is there any formula for success?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: As usual, there are various factors which contribute to success: With its close economic touch, the Sepawa-Congress has always met the demands of the exhibitors and also those of small- and medium-sized enterprises. For example, the Forum for Innovations - where participants have the opportunity to present their most recent innovations - was so successful in its first year that it had to be relocated during the event to accommodate all of those interested. It will be considerably extended this year. In the exhibition, it is easy to make contacts or to keep in touch with partners.

Also, the DGK, the German Society of Perfumers (DGP) and the EDC (Society of German Chemists, Division of Detergency and Formulations) will be hosting scientific lecture programs, which will provide high-level insight on the international activities within various branches of the industry.

In this year, it is striking that the attributes "bio" and "nature based" are often used in the program; is the branch going to align to new standards?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: These key themes show the approaches of the branch to the issue "sustainability" very clearly. The first discussion of the environmental behavior of surfactants dealt only with biodegradation; the following life cycle assessments revealed that petrochemical and oleochemical raw materials are of equal rank.

In the present discussion we have achieved another, more comprehensive level. The global lack of resources concerns our branch, too. We consume water, energy and raw materials, that means we also should think about our ecological footprint. An important way is to improve the resource efficiency - how to get more wealth from one resource unit. We all are curious about the answers which the keynote speaker of the Congress, Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, will give from a global point of view.

Some specialist attempts have already been presented at the recent workshops in our special and national groups and also the international sections. The increase of efficiency, such as by intelligent combining known products belongs to these attempts as well as the development of novel high performance surfactants and the use of biologically degradable polymers. All this enables us to produce products with lower active matter contents and better ecological and toxicological properties.

The cultivation and the use of various oil plants for detergents and cleansers and also for cosmetic raw materials have been established now. What drives the further search for new raw materials?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: The situation on the market of renewables is changing rapidly at the moment; crude oil prices, which are steadily increasing and the more and more increasing production of nature based fuels and energy have intensified the competition for these resources. It is, therefore, necessary to extend the basis for raw materials. Surely, Klaus H. Nottinger from OleoConsult will reveal the backdrop of this problem in detail in his contribution.

Without regard to the raw materials for surfactants in detergents and cleansers, which are produced in bulks, nature based raw materials like oils with special properties and scents are used in cosmetics.

Will the "green chemistry" be an important factor?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: Let's first take the biosurfactants as an example. They are obtained biotechnologically by microorganisms at moderate temperatures so that the energy input is considerably lower. Some of these compounds have outstanding properties and are already commercially available.

Sugar surfactants, which are obtained from renewable raw materials and are processed biocatalytically, come under the heading "green chemistry," as well as the substitution of ethylene oxide. More and more you will find polymers based on starch or various vegetable raw materials. At the Sepawa Congress, each of these developments will be highlighted by topical lectures.

Sepawa is continuously improving its international image. Will there be a trend towards particular regions?

Prof. Dr. KLaus-Peter Wittern: There are sections affiliated to the Sepawa in the European neighboring countries - Scandinavia, Benelux, Austria, Switzerland, and for a short time also Poland. In recent years we have been glad to welcome more and more visitors from India and the Near East. Moreover, the global surfactants market is expected to grow 2.5-3% per annum for the next years, and presumably the BRIC-countries will participate in this growth disproportionately high. Thus, a coming challenge is arising which Sepawa will meet with great vigor.

Interview: Barbara Buller, wiss+pa, Potsdam