Dispersa transforming food waste into biosurfactants

Dispersa is rapidly scaling the world's first waste-derived biosurfactants in the market for greener cleaning and personal care products

MONTREAL, May 31, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - As the most versatile ingredient in the chemical industry, surfactants have numerous applications and are the active components in many everyday products like detergents, creams, and hand soaps. However, most are currently manufactured from petroleum or palm-oil with a negative socio-environmental impact. Biosurfactants are an attractive option to replace these conventional surfactants, however cost remains a hurdle. By introducing waste-derived biosurfactants, Dispersa aims to further reduce the environmental impact and cost of these key ingredients.

Dispersa is producing sustainable biosurfactants derived from food waste, and is the first to make these waste-derived ingredients commercially available for use in the cleaning and personal care market. The Canadian startup has developed BioEterna™, a proprietary process to convert food waste into high-value chemicals in an effort to provide more sustainable ingredients for product manufacturers. (CNW Group/Dispersa)

Dispersa recently launched and is scaling PuraSurf™, its first biosurfactant product line for the cleaning and personal care market. Active client partnerships are underway with major cleaning product companies based in Canada. The startup is receiving increased customer interest, emphasizing the need to develop manufacturing capacity to meet market demand.

To produce biosurfactants, microbes must be fed various materials like oils and sugars - currently done with food-grade feedstock. Dispersa has developed a proprietary process, called BioEterna™, that instead converts food waste into circular biosurfactants. PuraSurf™ represents a sustainable alternative to both current biosurfactants, and conventional surfactants used in cleaning and personal care.

"From the beginning, it has been our priority as a CleanTech startup to develop green ingredients in a green manner. We crafted our process based on circular economy principles, to reduce our dependence on natural resources such as palm or petroleum." said Nivatha Balendra, founder and CEO of Dispersa. "By instead valorizing the abundance of food waste around us, we can ensure that neither affordability nor sustainability are compromised for one another."

On January 20, 2022, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced Dispersa among the 18 semi-finalists selected in the Food Waste Reduction Challenge (Novel Technologies Stream), funded through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This challenge promotes technologies that can transform food waste, surplus food, or food by-products into new food or other value-added products.

About Dispersa. Dispersa is a Canadian CleanTech start-up harnessing the power of microbes to convert food waste into the world's first commercially-available waste-derived biosurfactants. The startup strives to reduce society's dependence on fossil-fuel and palm-derived chemicals by providing sustainable alternatives. Launched in 2019, Dispersa is the first company in Canada developing biosurfactant manufacturing capacity, with the goal of strengthening local supply. For more information about Dispersa, visit www.dispersa.ca.

SOURCE Dispersa

Eisha Ahmed, [email protected], [phone] ext. 3