Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. (Bolingbrook, Ill.; www.elevance.com) has entered into a joint development agreement with Stepan Co. (Northfield, Ill.), to evaluate and commercialize novel surfactants, antimicrobials and polyurethane polyols based on Elevance’s specialty feedstocks, including 9-decenoic ester and C18 di-basic ester. Intended use will be for a variety of applications into the consumer, institutional, industrial and broader surfactant marketplace.
With an ever-changing market dynamic, both companies agree the joint development is an opportunity to provide an expanded product portfolio based on biorenewable feedstocks. Developing new biorenewable technologies with performance benefits is consistent with customers’ growth initiatives and their sustainability goals.
“Stepan’s breadth of expertise in derivative chemistries including sulfonation, esterification and quaternization, provides an excellent complement to our unique specialty chemical building blocks,” says K’Lynne Johnson, CEO of Elevance. “Our agreement with Stepan is a great fit that provides us with a leading partner for our strategic business segments in surfactants, polyols and antimicrobials.”
John Venegoni, vice president and general manager, Surfactants with Stepan Co. adds, “Stepan’s ongoing strategy is to deliver value to our customers and achieve organic growth through innovation that is synergistic with Stepan’s core capabilities, platforms and markets. We are pleased to work with Elevance in an effort to provide a unique product portfolio that addresses our customer’s sustainability objectives such as renewable feedstocks, greater compaction and reduced energy consumption.”