Recycled Emission Laundry Capsules
OMO's Detergent is Made from CO2 from a Chinese Steel Mill
Laura McQuarrie — April 21, 2021
OMO's new laundry capsules offer an entirely different approach to detergent, as they are made with recycled carbon emissions. The new laundry detergent capsules from the Unilever brand are being introduced in China and they feature surfactants that came from captured industrial emissions—in this case, carbon emissions from a steel mill.
Unilever is working with biotech company LanzaTech for these capsules, so that waste emissions can be transformed into ethanol through a bioreactor. From there, India Glycols produces ethylene oxide. According to the company, this is the first time that a surfactant made from captured carbon emissions will be introduced to the market in a cleaning product. Since surfactants are also used in other kinds of cleaners, there's the potential for more products to be made this way with captured carbon emissions.
