GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  December 2, 2024

Unilever Partners for Biomass Ingredients

Consumer products manufacturer Unilever entered a new partnership that aims to develop a variety of sugar cane to extract plant-based oils for use in the company’s cleaning ingredients. 

Unilever partnered with Nufarm, a global agriculture company, to develop, cultivate and commercialize a crop with significant biomass to produce sustainable oils. The biomass oil — derived from plant material, including the leaves and stems — will be a source of fatty acids, a core base ingredient for Unilever’s laundry detergents and beauty and personal care products.

If the project is successful, it could lower Unilever's reliance on petrochemical-based ingredients.

Typically, plant oils like sunflower and canola are produced in the seeds and fruits. The breakthrough of this technology is that the oil will be grown using the entire plant, including the leaves, in crops like cane and sorghum.

Nufarm has previously developed and commercialized a variety of sugar cane called energy cane, a sustainable crop which generates significantly more plant matter and sugar than traditional sugar cane. 

Unilever’s investment will leverage recent breakthroughs in biotechnology to develop a new, commercially viable variety of energy cane that can also produce biomass oil.

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