Stepan Company’s Dry CaDDBSA Co-Formulant NINATE 100L Shortlisted for 2022 ICIS Sustainability Award

March 31, 2022 

Stepan Company’s dry CaDDBSA co-formulant for agricultural applications was shortlisted for the 2022 Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS) Sustainability Award for its positive contribution to improving sustainability in the industry.

To provide a more sustainable solution for emulsifiable concentrates (EC), Stepan developed NINATE® 100L, a 100% active, linear calcium salt of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (CaDDBSA) product in the form of a flake to be solubilized in a formulator’s material of choice. As EC formulations generally use solvents as part of their design, it is possible for this dry CaDDBSA product to be solubilized in an existing component, reducing the amount of solvent in the overall formulation. Once solubilized, NINATE 100L has been shown to behave equivalent to CaDDBSA in solvent.

It does not use solvents at any stage of the production, storage, handling or shipping process, and is produced in water, which can be recovered and reused following the drying stage. Additionally, Stepan uses an optimized drying method that has been found to improve yield and reduce waste.

The product’s dry form helps to mitigate environmental, health and safety concerns associated with handling, flammability, human and environmental toxicity and volatile organic compounds. Hazardous solvents are not being shipped around the globe and customers can achieve reliable emulsification performance with a higher active product and provide formulators more options for design flexibility with the potential to remove unwanted solvents from the formulation. Further sustainability benefits can be realized by formulating NINATE 100L with a green solvent such as a soybean oil-based methyl ester like STEPOSOL® ME instead of an aromatic solvent.

Stepan is committed to advancing sustainability for our industry and our customers. By 2023, we are targeting 80% of Stepan's R&D investment in innovation and development to focus on sustainable processes and products. NINATE 100L is one example toward this effort.