NextLab Low Carbon Presented in North America

NextLab Low Carbon Introduced to North American Market Cepsa Química, the world's leading linear alkylbenzene (LAB) producer, announced today that its new product NextLab Low Carbon is ready for the North American market. Cepsa Química's NextLab Low Carbon product is manufactured using renewable energy instead of traditional fossil fuels. This shift in energy sources used in the production process has a positive effect on the product's environmental properties and enables a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the production of this new sustainable LAB. NextLab Low Carbon has the same technical properties as conventional LAB while featuring a smaller carbon footprint. Preliminary data from comparative life cycle assessment shows that this product reduces greenhouse gas (cradle-to-gate) footprint by 10-20 percent compared to conventional LAB production. This means that by using NextLab Low Carbon in detergent production, more sustainable products can be obtained without the need for reformulation. The NextLab product platform, which includes NextLab Low Carbon, was created to help the household care industry, which consumes approximately 7.7 million tons of surfactants annually, achieve its sustainability goals while meeting consumers' environmental demands. NextLab Low Carbon will be supplied to the North American market from Cepsa Química's facility in Bécancour, Canada. The use of renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels in production by 2023 makes this facility an ideal production center for manufacturing this product. The facility also features Detal Plus technology, the latest technology for linear alkylbenzene production, which is the main component in the manufacture of most biodegradable detergents. Detal Plus technology, developed by Cepsa Química in collaboration with Universal Oil Products (UOP), creates a safer, more efficient and sustainable production process compared to previous systems. Additionally, raw material and electricity use are optimized, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, and water consumption is reduced by 40 percent annually, while the quality and versatility of the produced LAB increase. Linear alkylbenzene (LAB), the main component of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), is currently used in the production of numerous biodegradable detergents available on the market. LAS is the most widely used biodegradable surfactant in such products due to its excellent properties, making it an essential component in both traditional detergent formats (powders or detergent bars) and more sophisticated products (single-dose capsules or high-concentration liquid detergents). Cepsa is a leading international company that has been operating for more than 90 years and possesses solid technical expertise, dedicated to sustainable mobility and energy. The company also has a world-leading chemical business with increasingly sustainable operations. In 2022, Cepsa presented its new strategic plan Positive Motion for 2030, which reflects its goal to become a leader in sustainable mobility, biofuels and green hydrogen in Spain and Portugal and to become a reference point in energy transition. The company places its customers at the center of its business and will work with them to help advance their decarbonization goals. ESG criteria inspire everything Cepsa does as it moves toward its Net Positive objective. Within this decade, with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, it will reduce Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 55 percent and the carbon intensity index of energy product sales including Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 15-20 percent. Cepsa Química is a leading company in its sector and is pioneering the transition to sustainable chemistry with clear commitment to combating climate change and transitioning to a circular, non-fossil economy. The company leads global production of LAB, the primary raw material used in biodegradable detergents where Cepsa Química is a pioneering player. It also ranks first in cumene production, an intermediate used in the production of phenol and acetone, which is the primary raw material in engineering plastics manufacturing, and is the world's second largest producer. Cepsa Química currently employs more than 1,000 people and has factories in seven countries worldwide (Spain, Germany, Brazil, Canada, China, Indonesia and Nigeria). Source