Sophorosurf commercial demonstrator

Manufacturing a cost-effective biosurfactant to potentially replace less sustainable synthetic surfactants used in everything from laundry liquids to paints

Almost every industry uses products made with synthetic surfactants, from household cleaning and personal care to food processing and agriculture.

18.5 million tonnes are produced globally each year, with 85% derived from fossil fuels. Although there is growing commercial interest in bio-based alternatives – which are biodegradable, less toxic and have a lower carbon footprint – current production processes cannot meet the volumes required by industry at a cost-effective price.

A biotechnology-based business, Holiferm has developed processes to produce biosurfactants using renewable feedstocks, such as rapeseed and sugar beet, and won funding from the Transforming Foundation Industries Investor Partner Programme to demonstrate its potential to manufacture at a commercial scale.

“Currently, biosurfactants are produced through a batch process, which has low productivity, high energy costs, and high water usage. Biosurfactants produced this way can’t compete on price with fossil-fuel-based surfactants, so are only really used in niche, high-value products,” explains Holiferm’s managing director, Richard Lock. “Our fermentation-based manufacturing and separation process uses an innovative recirculating gravity separation technique, allowing continuous production. It’s a win-win because as we remove the product, it encourages the organisms to produce even more. This increased productivity drives down the cost and makes it a competitive product.”

Holiferm used their Transforming Foundation Industries funding to build a continuous fermentation plant to produce sophorolipids (SL), a surfactant widely used in cosmetics, personal care, household cleaning and laundry products.  

The plant successfully demonstrated production of 1,000 tonnes of SL a year and that the continuous fermentation process could increase output by a third compared with batch production while reducing water consumption by 75% and energy consumption by 50%. Holiferm is now selling SL to manufacturers in the UK as well as internationally to the USA, Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, and South Korea.

“We were able to show that we can produce SL at scale and at a competitive price, and we are now exploring production of other biosurfactants. Ultimately, this will enable formulators to switch to more and more biobased surfactants in their products, with the aim of replacing petrochemical surfactants over the coming years,” says Lock. “It means ‘green’ products no longer need to be as expensive, and the volume of green products sold can potentially increase dramatically.”

Construction of the plant, which is based in Merseyside, has also resulted in the business growing from 11 to 55 employees since the beginning of the project. Lock sees the potential for global markets, too. “We want to increase production to 15,000 tonnes a year, which will meet UK demand. Then, our ambition is to build multiple plants globally where each draws its raw materials from the country in which it’s based. We’re currently looking to expand into the US and Brazil,” he explains.

“Biomanufacturing in this way not only helps reduce fossil fuel use and carbon emissions but also enables each country to improve the supply chain security of these vital industry components. The UK is at the forefront of this bio-industrial revolution.”