CEPSA Química Achieves Reduction in GHG Emissions in the Manufacture of Its New NextLab Low Carbon

Cepsa Química, the world's leading producer of linear alkylbenzene (LAB), announced today that its new product, NextLab Low Carbon is available for the North American market.

Cepsa Química's NextLab Low Carbon is a product manufactured using renewable energy instead of conventional fossil fuels. This change in the energy sources used for the production process has a positive impact on the environmental characteristics of the product, allowing a reduction in GHG emissions derived from the production of this new sustainable LAB.

The NextLab Low Carbon keeps the same technical characteristics as the traditional LAB, but with a smaller carbon footprint. Preliminary data from the comparative Life Cycle Assessment underway shows that this product reduces the GHG (cradle-to-gate) footprint between 10-20% compared to the manufacture of traditional LAB. This means that, simply by using NextLab Low Carbon in the manufacture of detergents, more sustainable products can be achieved without the need for reformulation.

The NextLab product platform, that comprises NextLab Low Carbon, was created with the aim of helping the home care industry, which consumes around 7.7 million tonnes of surfactants annually, to achieve its sustainability goals while meeting the environmental demands of consumers.

Bécancour

NextLab Low Carbon will be supplied to the North American market from Cepsa Química's plant in Bécancour (Canada), which by 2023 will be using renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels in its production, making it the ideal production center for the manufacture of this product. This facility also has the state-of-the-art technology, Detal Plus technology, for the manufacture of linear alkylbenzene, the main component in the manufacture of most biodegradable detergents.

The Detal Plus technology, developed by Cepsa Química, together with Universal Oil Products (UOP), creates a safer, more efficient and sustainable production process than previous systems. In addition, the use of raw materials and electricity is optimised, GHG emissions decrease, and water consumption is reduced by 40% per year, while the quality and versatility of the LAB produced are improved.

Linear alkylbenzene (LAB), the main component of linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS), is used in the production of a large number of the biodegradable detergents currently on the market. LAS is the most widely used biodegradable surfactant in this type of products thanks to its excellent properties, which make it a necessary component, both in traditional detergent formats (powder or detergent bars) and in more sophisticated products (single-dose capsules or high concentration liquid detergents).

Cepsa is a leading international company committed to sustainable mobility and energy with a solid technical experience after more than 90 years of activity. The company also has a world-leading chemicals business with increasingly sustainable operations. In 2022, Cepsa presented its new strategic plan for 2030, Positive Motion, which projects its ambition to be a leader in sustainable mobility, biofuels, and green hydrogen in Spain and Portugal, and to become a benchmark in the energy transition. The company places customers at the heart of its business and will work with them to help them advance their decarbonization objectives. ESG criteria inspire everything Cepsa does as it advances toward its Net Positive objective. This decade, it will reduce its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 55% and the carbon intensity index of its energy products sales, which includes Scope 1, 2 & 3 by 15-20%, with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

Cepsa Química is a world leader in its sector and is leading the shift towards sustainable chemistry, with a clear commitment to the fight against climate change and the transition to a circular, non-fossil economy. The company leads the worldwide production of LAB, the primary raw material used in biodegradable detergents, where Cepsa Química is a pioneer player. It is also number one in the production of cumene, an intermediate product used in the production of phenol and acetone, which are the primary raw materials for the manufacture of engineering plastics and of which it is the world's second-largest producer.

Cepsa Química currently employs more than 1,000 people and has plants in seven countries world worldwide (Spain, Germany, Brazil, Canada, China, Indonesia, and Nigeria).