Submission from IFF

The innovation.

As the world shifts to more sustainable living, consumers are increasingly seeking products that reflect their environmental values. From hair conditioners to floor cleaners, there is a growing demand for items to meet a greener standard. However, many still believe that “eco-friendly” home and personal care products, such as detergents and cleaners, lack the performance of traditional ones. That’s where DEB steps in.

Designed Enzymatic Biomaterials ™ (DEB) represents a groundbreaking technology that has been over a decade in the making.  DEB utilizes plant sugar, water, and enzymes to create innovative sugar chains that can replace plastics and other polymers used in many product categories, such as common household applications, while reducing GHG impact (see below). These plant sugar chains, known as polysaccharides, are identical as those found in nature and can be tailored for a wide range of home and personal care products, making DEB a versatile and innovative solution.

What started in 2009 as a proof of concept, DEB has evolved into commercial launches thanks to the tireless efforts of numerous research and development experts. Their dedication has positioned DEB as a truly new-to-the-world technology that has the potential to revolutionize industries in pursuit of a more sustainable tomorrow.

The benefits.

Compared to traditional fossil-based polymers and polymers used in consumer goods, DEB offers numerous advantages. It not only enables products to meet biodegradability requirements but does so without compromising on performance. By mimicking the sugar chains found in nature, DEB closes the gap between sustainability and performance, a challenge that often exists with synthetic polymers or those extracted directly from plants.  A peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment validated two key sustainability benefits of the DEB polysaccharide[1] that sits at the core of the DEB technology:

• The manufacturing process of the DEB polysaccharide can be carbon-negative, depending on co-product utilization: Its climate change impact is lower than its carbon sequestration potential, meaning more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere than is emitted through production.
• The DEB polysaccharide is derived from plant sugar, with net land use reduction: Co-products from DEB polysaccharide and the sugar mill displace animal feedstuff and carbohydrates derived from less efficient agricultural crops.

This circularity is helping the EU reach its ambitious climate change goals while also delivering consumers sustainable product options with powerful performance.

[1] The DEB polysaccharide can be further modified and formulated, like traditional polymers, for use in different applications. Depending on the modifications and formulations added to the DEB polysaccharide, the LCA results will differ and must be assessed for each product and application.