The fourth Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit Europe, which takes place in Paris, has unveiled its agenda.
Organised by Ecovia Intelligence, this year’s event will focus on bio-based surfactants, ethical labels, green formulations, and marketing developments.
Krister Solmberg, Professor of Surface Chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology, will lead a workshop on bio-based surfactants. Details will be given of these emerging green materials and their applications in detergents and cleaning products. The performance, cost and technical issues of using bio-based surfactants in product formulations will be discussed.
Another workshop will discuss the future direction of ethical labels. The trend has come to the cleaning products industry, with a growing number of products carrying green logos and symbols. Amarjit Sahota, Founder and President of Ecovia Intelligence (formerly Organic Monitor) will give an update on green standards and certification schemes; these include Natural, Organic, Nordic Swan, EU Eco-Flower and related schemes.
Timothy Glaz from Werner & Merz will share the brand’s experiences with ethical labels. What are the re-formulation issues when adopting such standards? What schemes appear to be most popular with consumers?
The conference will give an update on sustainability and marketing issues. Rising incidents of skin sensitivity and allergies are causing a shift towards safer chemicals in consumer products. Lene Still, CEO of Allergy Certified, will give details of allergens in detergents and cleaning products, and show how brands can get certified products.
Laure Cucuron, General Manager of TerraCycle Europe, will show how home care brands can close their packaging loops. Details will be given of innovative projects that find new applications for packaging waste.
Advances in green formulations will also be featured. Candice Kaisermann from the University of Manchester will give details of a new technology that aims to improve production efficiency of green surfactants. Once commercialised, the new separation scheme could greatly reduce prices of sustainable chemicals and raise adoption rates.
Other speakers will discuss the use of green chemistry in cleaning product formulations, and developments in sustainable feedstock. Angello Kostandas from Givaudan will give an update on green fragrances for home care products. A leading formulator will show how to overcome the technical hurdles when developing natural home care products. Insights will be given into how to replace contentious synthetic chemicals with green alternatives.
The conference adjourns with featured speakers discussing the shortcomings of sustainable chemicals: is the way forward with greener versions of existing chemicals, or novel materials?
The two day summit will take place in Paris on 8-9th November, comprising two workshops and conference sessions.
