Today, most product formulations use chemically based surfactants, meaning they’re sourced from non-renewable, petroleum-based raw materials and feedstocks. In an effort to increase environmental responsibility while meeting regulatory requirements and stakeholder demands, surfactant producers have replaced petrochemical-based raw materials with bio-based, renewable feedstocks. These sustainable replacements to chemically based surfactants are known as bio-based surfactants.
There are different types of bio-based surfactants, the most sustainable of which is a classification known as bio-surfactants. Unsurprisingly, with these new developments has come some confusion in terminology, both with product formulators as well as among end users.