Cognis APG a green success story

In recent years, a significant shift has been observed in global patterns of consumer demand. The market for green solutions in the home and personal care segment as well as in the I&I market is growing rapidly. The growth stems from increasing consumer awareness about the impact products have on their personal well-being, but also public health, society, and the environment. If manufacturers in these segments are to be successful, they have to offer products which deliver excellent performance, yet also serve this global ecoethics trend.

Natural, renewable raw materials combined with an outstanding ecological footprint are one of the keys to achieve success in the markets. Cognis APG surfactants are obtained from renewable plant-derived raw materials, such as vegetable oils and starch. They combine mildness to human skin, environmental compatibility, and are safe, yet still offer excellent cleaning performance in laundry detergents, hard surface cleaners, and manual dish detergents alike. Cognis APG surfactants also show impressive performance in foaming, cleaning, and mildness in personal care products, which make them widely accepted by formulators and ideal for mild shampoos, bath, and shower gel applications. Cognis APG the original green surfactant Cognis is the worlds largest supplier of the original APG surfactant, with extensive experience in production and comprehensive application know-how. The company has been producing APG surfactants for approximately 20 years. However, their roots reach back to the 19th century: In 1893, the German chemist Emil Fischer combined fatty alcohols and glucose obtained from coconut or palm kernel oil and starch for the first time, creating a new category of substances: alkyl polyglucosides. It was to take almost one hundred years, however, to progress from simple laboratory experiments to the industrial production of APG surfactants and their use in formulations. In 1989, Cognis, at the time still part of the Henkel Group, succeeded in designing an industrial production process for APG surfactants, following a costly and complex research and development effort. APG surfactants were originally developed for home care and body wash applications. Nowadays the applications for APG surfactants are as diverse as the

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products on the shelves of retailers, drugstores, and beauty shops. From baby foambath products to facial cleansing lotions, shampoos, and oral care products, from wipes to laundry detergents, hard surface cleaners, and I&I cleaning applications. Cognis is now the worlds largest manufacturer of the original APG surfactants and produces high-quality products at its sites in Duesseldorf, Germany, Cincinnati, USA and from May 2010 on in Jinshan, China. APG outstanding environmental compatibility APG surfactants are manufactured entirely from natural, renewable resources. They are notable for their environmental compatibility and high biodegradability. Even during mineralization to carbon dioxide and water, no environmentally harmful intermediates are formed, nor do the surfactants release any undesirable by-products such as nitrogen, ethylene oxide, or preservatives. Their high level of stability across a wide pH range and their unusual flexibility and polyfunctionality mean that APG surfactants can be used in an enormous variety of formulations, from personal and home care products to industrial & institutional cleaners.

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The Cognis range of top-grade quality products APG is a unique class of nonionic surfactants for a broad range of applications in the personal and home care as well as I&I segments meeting the demand for a mild, powerful, green, and polyfunctional ingredient. State-of-the-art manufacturing technology means Cognis can offer a comprehensive supply of these high-performance products, backed with the companys usual excellent global customer service. Personal Care APG product lines: The Plantacare and Plantaren product lines are exceptional nonionic surfactants with a balanced combination of foam volume and dermatological properties. Therefore, they are suitable for use as a base surfactant or a co-surfactant in cosmetic cleansing preparations. These products derived from renewable raw materials are the mild surfactant benchmark which makes them especially suited for baby care products. Furthermore, the combination of excellent cleansing with proven mildness of the surfactants allows the formulation of facial wash products with proven deep pore cleansing effects. They are widely used for eco-labeled formulations. Plantapon LGC Sorb, the Next Generation APG, retains the characteristic mildness of APG surfactants while also improving important attributes like superior and stable foam performance, luxuriant lathering capacity, and sensory acceptance. This has been achieved by introducing an anionic group into the APG molecule. The product, a Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate and Lauryl Glucoside, is a liquid surfactant which can be applied to various cleaning applications, such as mild facial and intimate washes, specialties shampoos, and special sulfate-free systems. Home Care and I&I APG product lines: Glucopon 50 G, 600 UP, 600 CSUP, and 650 EC are sugar surfactants for laundry and manual dishwashing applications. These alkyl polyglucosides provide exceptional detergency on stains caused by oily or cosmetic substances even at low washing temperatures. They also produce excellent foam in combination with other surfactants, are effective emulsifiers, and are extremely mild to the skin. Due to their outstanding ecological footprint, they are broadly used in eco-labeled products. Glucopon 425 N, 425 N/HH, 215 UP, and APG 325 N are sugar surfactants mainly recommended for all kind of hard surface cleaners. These products offer extraordinary cleaning performance and gloss retention, and are stable when

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exposed to all types of organic acids, or caustic and other high electrolyte products. These surfactants are the basis for effective glass, bathroom, floor and multi-purpose cleaners, providing streak-free cleaning and excellent plastic compatibility. All these types are also often used for eco-labeled products due to their environmental fit. Glucopon 225 DK is a sugar surfactant mainly recommended for industrial and institutional cleaning applications that provides effective hydrotrope efficacy, excellent hard surface detergency and processing benefits for a variety of cleaning products. It exhibits very good wetting and dispersing properties for increased soil removal and emulsification. Being completely derived from renewable resources, it provides low skin irritating potential, excellent non-toxicological properties and is often applied in eco-labeled products. Cognis Care Chemicals an expert in specialty chemistry based on natural, renewable raw materials Increasing consumer concern about both environmental and social issues, a trend often referred to as ecoethics, means that products impact on the environment and human health are increasingly important as purchasing criteria. Cognis Care Chemicals is one of the leading providers of natural-source solutions for use in the personal and home care segments as well as in the I&I market. It has more than 160 years of experience in specialty chemistry based on natural, renewable raw materials, and about 70 percent of the raw materials it uses are natural and renewable. The company is therefore well placed to help manufacturers meet the increasing request from both regulators and the public to offer products that follow ecoethical principles, and so enable them to achieve success in their markets. Cognis range of top-quality alkyl polyglucosides is helping customers around the world to minimize their environmental footprint while maximizing customer satisfaction.

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Contact Patricia Rodrguez Prez, Global Marketing Home Care/I&I Cognis GmbH Phone: +49-2173-4995-367 E-mail: patricia.rodriguezperez@cognis.com Internet: www.cognis.com Guadalupe Pelln, Global Marketing Hair/Body/Oral Cognis GmbH Phone: +49-2173-4995-457 E-mail: guadalupe.pellon@cognis.com Internet: www.cognis.com Raquel Ark, Senior Communications Manager Cognis GmbH Phone: +49-2173-4995-464 Email: raquel.ark@cognis.com Internet: www.cognis.com

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