Today, almost 57% of surfactants are made with fossil-based feedstocks¹. As consumer expectations and brand commitments increasingly focus on sustainability, bio-based surfactants have emerged as a way for the industry to begin transitioning away from fossil carbon. In Europe, oleochemicals, primarily derived from vegetable oils, account for a significant share of surfactant raw materials, particularly for household detergents².
Bio-based surfactants represent an important step forward. However, the climate and environmental benefits of biomass depend heavily on how land-use change, agricultural practices, and supply-chain governance are managed globally. While biomass can provide a renewable alternative to fossil carbon, it cannot supply 100% of the surfactants industry’s demand. Structural constraints mean additional carbon pathways will be required to produce the essential products on which modern life depends.
Structural limits of biomass
Reliance on biomass involves unavoidable trade-offs. Land and water use affect local communities, biodiversity, and climate resilience, while also competing with demand from food, fuel, and chemical value chains. As demand for oleochemicals in surfactants and related applications continues to grow, pressure on land availability increases, raising questions around long-term security of supply and sustainability at scale.
Policy tightening: EUDR and beyond
Alongside growing awareness of these challenges, policymakers are tightening regulations around biomass production. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), for example, requires operators and traders selling certain commodities or products on the EU market to demonstrate that they are not attached to deforestation or forest degradation, comply with relevant local laws—including human rights— and are supported by a risk assessments proving there is negligible risk³.
For surfactant value chains that depend on palm, soy, or other feedstocks commonly associated with deforestation, this legislation restricts expansion into high‑risk areas and raises the bar for what qualifies as sustainable biomass sourcing.
Certified schemes such as RSPO play an important role, but they currently cover only a minority—approximately 19%—of global palm oil production⁴. This leaves a substantial share of supply associated with weaker governance, limited traceability, and higher land-use change risk.
At the same time, some fermentation-based routes for converting biomass into surfactant intermediates can release a significant proportion of the original carbon as CO₂. Without further optimisation, this can erode a portion of the intended environmental benefit.
The Biomass Bottleneck
Regional differences further highlight the limitations of biomass. In Western Europe, scarce arable land and overlapping policy demands restrict the potential for major growth in biomass use for chemical production. In contrast, regions such as the US have seen improvements in agricultural productivity, supporting continued increases in maize yields and output.
Globally, however, the amount of biomass that can be allocated to chemicals without undermining food security, biodiversity, or climate objectives remains finite, and increasingly contested. Climate variability adds another layer of uncertainty, affecting yields and creating additional pressure on global supply chains.
Building supply chain resilience
Recreaire®, a CO₂-based surfactant, offers an alternative route for the surfactants industry to transition away from fossil-based alcohols while easing pressure on sustainable biomass. By using captured CO₂ as a feedstock for surfactant building blocks, this approach taps into a scalable carbon source that does not compete with land or food systems.
Recreaire technologies convert CO₂ into non-ionic surfactants capable of substituting oleo-derived alcohols without compromising performance. In doing so, they help displace fossil carbon and diversify the carbon sources underpinning surfactant supply chains.
No single chemistry platform can deliver the resilience required for a defossilised future. Instead, a portfolio of complementary solutions is needed: where sustainable biomass creates value where it makes sense, and waste CO₂ is converted into new, useful products. Developing these pathways in parallel strengthens industrial resilience in a way that reliance on a single route, such as biomass alone, cannot.
Further optimisation of renewable carbon technologies can also increase sustainable carbon content. For example, combining a CO₂-based hydrophobe with bio-derived ethylene oxide and renewable energy offers a potential route toward fully renewable surfactants.
By reducing cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions, decoupling part of surfactant demand from arable land, and easing pressure on agricultural systems, CO₂-based surfactants can play a meaningful role alongside stronger land-use regulation, certification, and due diligence frameworks. Together, these approaches support more resilient surfactant supply chains and accelerate progress toward defossilisation.
References
¹ Surfactants Market Size, Industry Share, Trends, 2030
³ Regulation on Deforestation-free products – Environment
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This article was written by Solene Cauet-Fidge, Econic’s Environmental Health Safety and Regulatory Director. To learn more or contact Solene, click here.
