This laundry detergent is made from recycled carbon

Unilever is turning a Chinese steel mill’s carbon emissions into clean laundry.

Consumer goods company Unilever is now selling a laundry detergent that’s made using recycled carbon instead of traditional fossil fuels — making it the first cleaning product of its kind on the market.

The idea: Laundry detergents and other household cleaners contain substances called surfactants, which are traditionally derived from fossil fuels.

Getting rid of surfactants in the name of sustainability isn’t an option — they help the products foam up and clean — so Unilever instead decided to try making one from recycled carbon.

How it works: The process of making the recycled carbon laundry detergent starts with capturing carbon emissions from a steel mill in China.

Those emissions are then turned into ethanol, which is converted into ethylene oxide. That ethylene oxide can be used to create surfactants, which Unilever then incorporates into its new laundry detergent.

The cold water cycle: The recycled carbon laundry detergent is only available in China, and Unilever hasn’t said when it might offer it in other markets.

However, it has set a goal to remove fossil fuel-based chemicals from its cleaning products by 2030, so the next decade should see more products like this one hit store shelves worldwide.

“Advancements in technology like this mean we can now reinvent the chemistry of our products,” Peter ter Kulve, Unilever’s president of home care, said in a press release.

“Instead of valuable carbon being released directly into the atmosphere, we can capture it and recycle it in our products instead of using fossil fuels.”

We’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at [email protected].

Related
New low-carbon cement is stronger than the regular stuff
A low-carbon cement developed by two MIT grads has officially exceeded industry standards for strength, durability, and more.
Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet will cause other global changes
MIT researchers find that extratropical storm tracks would change significantly with solar geoengineering efforts.
Batteries made from recycled metal coming to US
Four companies are teaming up to make more eco-friendly lithium-ion batteries by injecting recycled metal into the supply chain.
New MIT tech could help the world’s biggest polluters clean up their emissions
MIT is developing a process that could help speed up the adoption of carbon capture technology by making it less energy-intensive.
This startup’s tech turns CO2 into seashell dust
UCLA spinout Equatic has developed a carbon removal technology that pulls CO2 from ocean water, generating hydrogen in the process.
Up Next
lab-grown lobster
Subscribe to Freethink for more great stories