Making feasible products with biobased components is a big challenge, according to P&G. Many plant materials are less absorbent, do not have the same cleaning power or feel rougher than their petroleum-based counterparts.
Consumers want environmentally friendly products, but are unwilling to compromise when it comes to performance and safety. For many products, however, this kind of quality usually involves costs. At the moment, biobased products are more difficult to scale, which increases the production costs. Despite these extra costs, P & G continues to develop its biobased product line.
When it comes to babies and children, for example. consumers are often willing to pay a little more for products with fewer chemical ingredients. Like PampersPure, a line of diapers with a biobased top layer of 50%, without chemical bleach or added preservatives such as parabens.
P & G also developed the biobased detergent Tide pureclean, which is also designed to work efficiently in cold water. This is an important step forward, as 80% of the environmental impact of a washing machine is caused by the use of hot water. It is packaged in bottles that contain at least 25% recycled plastics. Research is also being conducted into more natural fragrance ingredients for perfumed products.
Molecular biologist Amy Trejo delves deeper into the biobased portfolio of P&G during the Global Synthetic Biology Summit SynBioBeta, from 1 to 3 October in San Francisco.