Univar’s Solutions Center advances sustainability efforts in personal care and homecare, exec details

11 Mar 2022 --- Chemical and ingredient provider Univar Solutions is spotlighting the impact of its new Germany-based Solutions Center aimed at strengthening its sustainability across the company’s ingredient supply. This entails beauty and personal care, homecare and industrial cleaning and Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants and Elastomers (CASE) businesses.

“The latest Solution Center will respond to changing legislation or consumer interest shifts, reformulating to include more sustainable ingredients, entering a new product category, or expanding an existing brand,” Dr. Andrew Mint, director of global solution centers at Univar Solutions, tells PersonalCareInsights.

The company highlights how its newest Solution Center in Essen, Germany combines the local market and industry knowledge with the scale and capabilities of a global company and team.

“Our customers in the beauty & personal care, homecare & industrial cleaning and CASE industries now have access to a Germany-based team of scientists, chemists and multidisciplinary specialists that together create valuable and sustainable solutions for industry,” he adds.

Improving sustainability and reevaluating ingredients
Improving environmental impact is an increasingly large portion of Univar Solutions business, as brands across all industries and of all sizes are reevaluating their ingredients to meet shifts in consumer demands as well as their own sustainability goals, explains Mint.

Echoing the demand for sustainable methods, Innova Market Insights Top Ten Trend for 2022: “Shared Planet” emphasizes that consumers are now more ethical and ecologically responsible, leading to food companies needing to instill credibility in product claims and ingredient traceability.

“By being such a major player in the product formulation and ingredient sourcing supply chain, we can leverage the sustainability progress not just of our company, but also that of our customers and suppliers to provide an amplified impact.”

In the beauty and personal care space, this means things like reformulating to use less water or transitioning to stick versus liquid applications, Mint continues.In the Beauty & Personal Care business, the Hawaii Sunscreen Kit was created in response to changes in US legislation.

“In the homecare & industrial cleaning space, this looks like the increasing use of enzymes and probiotics in hard surface, laundry and dish applications. In the CASE industry, the impact is seen in areas like formulating low-VOC coating solutions,” he adds.

Developing environmentally friendly ingredients
Univar Solutions’ global solution centers are hubs for innovation and product development.

“Within them, we’ve developed more sustainable solutions that use environmentally friendly, high-performing ingredients without sacrificing performance,” says Mint.

“For example, within the CASE category, coatings without compromise low-VOC solutions have been developed and these include a solvent-based roof coating, water-borne roof coating, water-borne industrial DTM coating, water-borne architectural coating and water-borne epoxy coating.”

Within the homecare and industrial cleaning, Univar Solutions’ conscientiously clean toolkit showcases four starter formulations, developed in its Solution Centers, that can be used to help meet New York’s changing regulation on 1,4 Dioxane.

“These formulas highlight several key ingredients and formulation techniques that provide compliance for a variety of cleaning products, including an all-purpose cleaner, shower/tub/tile cleaner, mid-tier manual dish soap and a 3x liquid laundry formulation.”Dr. Andrew Mint, director of global solution centers at Univar Solutions.

In the beauty and personal care business, the Hawaii Sunscreen Kit was created in response to changes in US legislation and heightened concern about personal health and the environment.

“Brands were looking for oxybenzone-free ingredient solutions for their sunblock products and turned to Univar Solutions for formulation innovations in high SPF (50+) water-resistant sunscreen, mineral-based SPF 50 sunscreen, Hawaiian surf 30 body lotion, SPF 50 sunscreen for sensitive skin and SPF 50 sport spray sunscreen.”

Specialty chemicals: anti-pollution and blue light protection
Univar Solutions works with hundreds of suppliers and its worldwide solution centers may use specialty chemicals and ingredients from its supplier network to help customers bring products to market faster.

“Our business strategy centers on being an ally to our customers and suppliers – operating as a team who can help reduce time and streamline effort from their processes, formulate breakthrough products, optimize their logistics, and improve safety and sustainability – and the growth of our global network of Solution Centers allows us to do just that,” Mint explains.

“Whether natural emollients that are used in anti-pollution and blue light skin protection formulations or microbial cleaning solutions that leave your kitchen table spotlessly clean using cleaner label ingredients, everyday consumers benefit from the innovation that takes place at the intersection of science and technology at Univar Solutions,” he concludes.

By Nicole Kerr