Your session, ‘Spruce-up’ with Wood-Based Biopolymers, highlights the benefits of Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC) in fabric softeners. Can you share what makes this biopolymer a game-changer for sustainable home care formulations

Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC) is indeed a game-changer for sustainable home care formulations, particularly in fabric softeners. 
 What sets MFC apart is its dual advantage of being both sustainable and highly functional. As a biobased material derived from renewable wood sources, MFC significantly reduces the environmental footprint of fabric softeners.

Moreover, MFC addresses several technical and formulation challenges. It enhances rheology, ensuring a stable and consistent texture, and improves compatibility with other ingredients, which can often be a hurdle in formulation development. 
 This means that manufacturers can create products that not only meet high sustainability standards but also deliver superior performance.

 Additionally, MFC opens up new possibilities for innovation. It allows for the development of fabric softeners with unique properties by stabilizing and distributing microcapsules, which can help brands stand out in a competitive market. 

 By integrating MFC, companies can offer consumers products that are both eco-friendly and effective, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable home care solutions.

How does MFC compare to traditional synthetic stabilizers in terms of performance and sustainability? What challenges did you overcome in developing this solution?

Traditional synthetic stabilizers are soluble polymers, and as such are impacted by temperature, ionic strength, and other soluble ingredients that change solvation thermodynamics. This sensitivity can lead to compatibility and storage stability problems, requiring careful design and control of molecular characteristics. Common synthetic stabilizers include carbomers, which can be designed individually for a range of formulations from spray cleaners to fabric softeners but are based on petroleum and carry a significant carbon footprint. Unlike traditional polymer stabilizers, MFC is not soluble but rather forms a physical network that has unique visco-elastic properties. This gives exceptionally robust stabilizing properties that are unaffected by changes in temperature, pH, ionic strength and co-formulants, making it broadly compatible. Furthermore, MFC allows formulations to be thickened without becoming “sticky”, avoiding stringiness and preserving excellent rinsability. In fabric softeners, MFC can be used to stabilize fragrance microcapsules by keeping them in suspension and promoting uniform adsorption on different fabric types. 
 In acid and alkaline spray cleaners, MFC combines both excellent spray pattern with unparallelled vertical cling, improving safety, contact time, and rinsability.

On the sustainability side, MFC is biobased, biodegradable, and non-chemically modified cellulose offering a significantly more favourable carbon footprint compared to traditional synthetic stabilizers. 
 By combining a strong sustainability profile with effective functionality, our product allows manufacturers to meet both environmental goals and technical requirement.

Borregaard has been at the forefront of sustainable innovation in the cleaning industry. What key trends do you see shaping the future of biobased ingredients in home and fabric care?

Biobased and plant-based ingredients are becoming mainstream thanks to homecare companies responding to pressures from consumers to move towards more natural alternatives. Now we see our most innovative customers in sustainable homecare putting more emphasis on circularity. Certifications such as ISCC PLUS are gaining more attention as formulators and consumers become curious about where ingredient raw materials originate. We see a more holistic view on sustainability developing at many leading homecare companies, which is great news for suppliers of biobased sustainable ingredients and the consumer.

Besides, another important trend we see is increasing focus on carbon emissions. The carbon footprint of ingredients and end products will become a key decision-making factor. Life Cycle Analysis will therefore play a crucial role, bringing transparency into the environmental impact of ingredients and making it easier to calculate overall emissions as well as selecting the least emitting options.

Cleaning Products Europe is the leading event for industry professionals to exchange knowledge and explore innovation. Having participated before, what makes this conference stand out, and why should professionals attend this year?

For us, Cleaning Products Europe is the place to find innovation collaboration. It gives a cross-section of the homecare industry, mixing formulators, ingredient suppliers, regulators, marketing leaders, service providers, etc, and this is reflected in the talks. Furthermore, the size of the conference is “not too big, not too small”, which enables connections. 

The high-quality talks and discussions provide valuable insights into the latest industry trends and needs. For suppliers, this is a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of market dynamics, challenges and future directions. By engaging with key stakeholders, suppliers can better align their offerings with industry demands, ensuring they contribute effectively and provide relevant solutions. Attending this year means staying ahead of the curve and building the right connections to drive meaningful innovation.

Sustainability continues to be a major focus in the cleaning products industry. How do you see industry events like Cleaning Products Europe shaping the conversation and influencing the direction of sustainable innovation?

Conferences like Cleaning Products Europe are vital to shaping the conversation and direction of sustainable innovation. 
 Most importantly, it provides a platform where ingredient suppliers and formulators can interface with regulators and certifiers to raise concerns and give feedback. 
 Sustainability is extremely complex and requires collaboration between industry and regulators to build a framework that allows for innovation and a broad and inclusive perspective on sustainability in homecare products.