Sasol Chemicals, a business unit of Sasol Ltd., announced the launch of Carinex and Livinex, two brands that will expand Sasol’s offerings of sustainable products. Carinex and Livinex sophorolipids, both biosurfactants, are the first product offerings under these new brands.

Sasol Chemicals, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of surfactants, earlier announced plans to begin exploring alternatives to traditional surfactants. In March 2022, the company announced a strategic partnership with Holiferm Limited to develop sophorolipids, a fermentation-derived biosurfactant offering an extensive reduction in carbon footprint compared with petroleum or bio-based surfactants. Using Holiferm’s proprietary technology, Sasol’s sophorolipids are fully derived from natural palm-free oils and/or sugars, making them environmental-friendly products without compromising performance.

“As Sasol continues to find ways to offer our customers lower-carbon footprint products, we believe partnerships are the key to unlocking and accelerating sustainable innovation and transformation,” said Eric Stouder, Senior Vice President of Sasol Chemicals.

“Combining Holiferm’s advanced technology with Sasol’s unique chemistry and global reach, we can now offer our customers mass produced, high performing and more sustainable solutions at competitive prices.”

Carinex will target the personal care market, while Livinex will be offered to customers in the home care, technical, institutional and industrial cleaning markets. While fully biodegradable, Carinex and Livinext sophorolipids (SL) are well-tolerated by aquatic organisms, acting as detergents, dispersants, emulsifiers, foaming agents or wetting agents commonly needed for daily personal care products, such as shampoos and conditioners, as well as detergents, degreasers and more in cleaning and technical applications.

“Our partnership with Sasol Chemicals allows us to increase the reach and use of biosurfactants to markets across the globe,” said Richard Lock, Managing Director of Holiferm. “We are seeing an increase in interest and uptake of sustainable solutions and are well-placed with our partners to meet this demand.”