The innovative laundry liquid is the creation of Belgium-based company Ecover

Apr 2, 2014 19:56 GMT  ·  By

Environmentalists have been campaigning against palm oil for several years now, and not because they don't like its smell or its color, but because the palm oil industry has many times been linked to forest clearances and the destruction of natural habitats.

The good news is that, thanks to Belgium-based company Ecover, there might come a day when greenheads will no longer have to protest palm oil, simply because this product would have become obsolete.

Not to beat about the bush, media reports say that, later this year, Ecover is to introduce folks in Europe to the world's first algae-based laundry liquid. Should things go according to plan, the liquid is to be launched sometime in August. Business Green explains that, presently, quite a lot of palm oil goes into making detergents. Given the fact that, as mentioned, the global palm oil industry is not exactly environmentally friendly, efforts are being made to find suitable alternatives.

The folks at Ecover, who claim to be in the business of producing ecologically sound cleaning products, have until now used European-sourced rapeseed alternatives to replace palm oil surfactants in its cleaning range.

Besides, they say that the palm oil that they are still using to make various products comes from sustainable and ethical sources alone, and is not in any way linked to forest destruction.

Still, the launch of the world's first algae-based laundry liquid this coming August is bound to be a game-changer for the company. This is because, unlike palm oil, algal oil can be locally sourced. Hence, it helps protect biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and even ensure supply chain transparency.

“The problem with palm oil comes in how it's been grown and harvested. Rainforests are being cut away and they're being replaced with palm trees and that's the major concern,” Ecover Chief Executive Philip Malmberg said in a statement.

“So we're offering a much better and much more sustainable liquid laundry product that offers this alternative to palm oil without any compromise on quality or effectiveness of the product itself,” Philip Malmberg went on to argue.

Dirk Develter, Ecover’s head of Research and Development, also pointed out that, “Algal oils have a much smaller ecological footprint than most tropical oils, such as palm oil, making them ideal for home products, where tropical oils are widely used.”

To mark the launch of the world's first laundry liquid to have oil derived from algae instead of palm oil in its composition, Ecover has released a promo video. The video is available below, and it is just three minutes long. Have a look at it, and share your thoughts on this initiative in the comments section.