Novozymes has developed an enzymatic solution to meet the unique Chinese challenge of concerns about environmental impact combined with the tradition of handwashing. The solution was presented at the AOCS World Conference in Singapore last week.

Read more about Novozymes on www.stateofgreen.com

The Chinese laundry challenge

The Chinese detergent market is characterized by some very special conditions. Enormous quantities of energy and water are required for China’s 1.3 billion people to wash their clothes, and large volumes of wastewater are discharged. 

The number of washing machines in China is growing rapidly and will reach household penetration of 89% in 2020. However, many Chinese people still prefer the traditional method of washing by hand. In fact, more than 50% of all laundry in China is still done by hand.

Enzymes are the perfect match for laundry in China

At the AOCS conference, Per Falholt, Chief Science Officer at Novozymes, explained how Novozymes' bioinnovations meet the special conditions of the Chinese detergent market:

"These multienzyme solutions consist of up to eight different enzymes and can deliver the performance that consumers want in a shorter time, with less mechanical action and at lower temperatures. In addition, replacing surfactants with enzymes has a positive impact on CO2 emissions and water quality. The enzymes also make it possible to get washing clean with less scrubbing. This is why we say that enzymes are the perfect match for laundry in China: They give you the option to wash by hand or machine.”

To learn more about biological technologies that improve energy efficiency, click here

Improving the environment with enzymes

Why use enzymes for laundry detergent? According to Novozymes, enzymes can do a highly targeted job and attack a variety of common laundry stains, for example fruit, grass and grease stains. Enzymes are also instrumental in enabling better cleaning performance in low-temperature washing. Moreover, they are used in much smaller quantities and therefore have less impact on the environment.

Learn more about Novozymes' use of enzymes in laundry detergent

“If all 3 million tons of detergent used in China every year were optimized with enzymes, the CO2 saving would be 83,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to taking 35,000 cars off the road. Wastewater quality would also be improved because enzymes are used in much smaller quantities, so the water quality of 2.8 million m3 of water would be improved,” Per Falholt concluded.

Source: www.novozymes.com

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