Biotechnology at Croda

What is biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the use of cellular and biomolecular processes to develop products for industrial use. It takes advantage of the ability of certain living organisms to take in a substance or substances and, via their inbuilt biological processes, convert them into a useful industrial product or products. It opens the possibility for a wide range of new ingredients to be derived from biological feedstocks, that could replace ones that require chemical manufacturing processes or are derived from petrochemical feedstocks.

How do we use biotechnology at Croda?

We believe that biotechnology is an exciting and disruptive field of science that opens the possibility for a wide range of new ingredients to be derived from biological feedstocks, which could replace ones that require chemical manufacturing processes or are derived from petrochemical feedstocks. We have five specialist biotechnology labs across Croda: Enza Biotech in Sweden, Nautilus in Canada, IRB in Italy, Sederma in France and Daresbury in the UK, as well as our Ditton manufacturing site, which has been using biotechnology derived manufacturing processes for decades. Each site brings with it a specialist set of skills and knowledge in the field of biotechnology.

For example, our use of biotechnology is helping replace petrochemical feedstocks in the surfactants supply chain. Surfactants are used within a variety of products from detergents and dyes to cosmetics and many are manufactured using a petrochemical derivative called ethylene oxide. It is highly effective however; more companies are now seeking biobased alternatives. At our Atlas Point manufacturing site in the United States, we have invested in a manufacturing site that can utilise biotechnology produced biobased ethanol to make biobased ethylene oxide. That, in turn, is used to create bio-based surfactants without using petrochemical feedstocks.