The Sirius Effect:

The European Green Deal poses major challenges for companies. Although this also raises the appropriate questions with Leo Verboeket, innovation manager of Sirius International, he also sees an increasing demand from society for sustainable products. That is why he calls on companies to show leadership, like Sirius, and stick their necks out for the greater good.

The ambition of the European Union is to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. By, for example, using renewable energy sources, zero-emission means of transport and increasingly moving towards a circular economy, by 2050 net greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced to zero. For the chemical industry this Green Deal has been elaborated in the step-by-step plan Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), which was presented last January.

Competitive position

“Of course it is good that Europe wants to lead the way, but this way they want to become best-overachiever-in-class. In the past, REACH also required the necessary investments, but at the same time had a protectionist effect because it discouraged foreign companies that did not comply with safety requirements. With the Green Deal, Europe goes a step further in the field of sustainability, but in this case possibly at the expense of competitiveness because companies could take their production off-shore,” explains Leo Verboeket, innovation manager at Sirius International.

Show leadership

For Verboeket, however, that is no reason to resist, on the contrary. “When you innovate, you have to show leadership from time to time and have the courage to make better products more expensive,” he says. “Sometimes you have to take risks and set a goal that goes against your current best interest in order to achieve a higher good that is also good for you.” Sirius is one of the frontrunners in this respect by consciously choosing sustainable ingredients for cleaning products, personal care and water treatment.

Movement in society

“In addition to the movement from the European Union, there is also an ongoing movement from society for an increasing demand for sustainable products,” says Verboeket. “It used to be sandal wearing tree huggers, but nowadays it is the youth wanting sustainable products. In COVID times, this has grown even more. I think it is an unstoppable movement.”

Three steps

Sirius International is therefore regularly asked for advice in relation to the Green Deal. “Okay, if we have to become more sustainable, how do we do that?” Verboeket has an answer to that. “The first step is to make your chemical products biodegradable even if they are still petroleum based. We do this ourselves, for example with our polymers Briteframe PASP and Briteframe PESA. The second step is then to manufacture substances from sustainable raw materials. Our biobased and biodegradable surfactants Ethoxybrite SLES , Ethoxybrite EFA and Britens SLS are good example of this. Finally, the third step is to produce the new products using micro-organisms that come from nature without the use of genetic modification. This applies, for example, to the various enzymes that Sirius offers such as Britase Amylase, Britase Lipase and Britase Cellulase.

As quickly as possible

Verboeket calls on companies to start sustainability as soon as possible. “Don't wait until legislation is introduced that will delay and complicate everything, but start looking for innovative solutions yourself now. There are no chemists working in Brussels, so the initiatives must come from the companies. We can bring those ideas to Brussels through trade associations to defend our interests,” says Verboeket.

Would you also shortly like to brainstorm about possible sustainability improvements and innovative solutions instead of just waiting for government measures?

You know where to find us!

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