SIST-TP CEN/TR 17557:2021

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
01-september-2020
Površinsko aktivne snovi - Površinsko aktivne snovi na biološki osnovi - Pregled
površinsko aktivnih snovi na biološki osnovi
Surface active agents - Bio-based surfactants - Overview on bio-based surfactants
Tenside - Biobasierte Tenside - Übersicht über Biobasierte Tenside
Agents de surface - Agents tensioactifs biosourcés - Vue d’ensemble des agents
tensioactifs biosourcés
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
ICS:
71.100.40 Površinsko aktivna sredstva Surface active agents
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020


FINAL DRAFT
TECHNICAL REPORT
FprCEN/TR 17557
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE

TECHNISCHER BERICHT

July 2020
ICS
English Version

Surface active agents - Bio-based surfactants - Overview
on bio-based surfactants
 Tenside - Biobasierte Tenside - Übersicht über
Biobasierte Tenside


This draft Technical Report is submitted to CEN members for Vote. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC
276.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.

Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a Technical Report. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a Technical Report.


EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2020 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. FprCEN/TR 17557:2020:2020 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Market situation and penetration of bio-based surfactants in Europe . 7
5 Description of differences between bio-based and non-bio-based surfactant . 8
5.1 Impact on biodegradability/aquatic toxicity . 8
5.2 Performance . 9
5.3 Life Cycle Assessment LCA and Product Environmental Footprint PEF [3] . 10
5.4 Sustainability . 11
6 Characterization of sources . 13
6.1 Specific methods . 13
6.2 Use and impact . 13
6.3 Round robin and Proficiency test . 15
6.4 Conclusions of this round robin . 17
7 Labelling and certification schemes . 18
Bibliography . 19

2

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
European foreword
This document (FprCEN/TR 17557:2020) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 276
“Surface Active Agent”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the Vote on TR.
3

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
Introduction
Bio-based raw materials have been used for millennia in the manufacture of surfactants, e.g. the first
surfactant used by mankind was already completely bio-based – soap. With the advent of modern
surfactants in the early 20th Century, petrochemical-based raw materials also became of interest. They
offered the opportunity to tune the surfactant properties, in a broader sense, to their various
applications.
The last decades have seen the emergence of new bio-based raw materials for surfactants. Some of the
reasons for the increased interest lie in the bio-based products’ potential benefits in relation to the
depletion of fossil resources and climate change.
Acknowledging the need for common standards for bio-based products, the European Commission
1
issued mandate M/492 , resulting in a series of standards developed by CEN/TC 411, with a focus on
bio-based products other than food, feed and biomass for energy applications.
The standards of CEN/TC 411 “Bio-based products” provide a common basis on the following aspects:
2
— Common terminology
— Bio-based content determination
3
— Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
4

— Sustainability aspects
— Declaration tools.
It is important to understand what the term “bio-based product” covers and how it is being used. The
term “bio-based” means “derived wholly or partly from biomass”. It is essential to characterize the
amount of biomass contained in the product by, for instance, its (total) bio-based content or bio-based
carbon content.
The bio-based content of a product itself does not provide information on its environmental impact or
sustainability, which may be assessed through Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), LCA and sustainability
criteria. In addition, transparent and unambiguous communication within bio-based value chains is
facilitated by a harmonized framework for certification and declaration.
Breaking down the horizontal standards to bio-based products like bio-based surfactants, the European
Commission issued mandate M/491, resulting in standards developed by CEN/TC 276. This Technical
Specification has been developed with the aim to fulfil part of the Mandate to describe the technical
requirements of bio-based surfactants. The criteria for “bio-based surfactants” published in this
Technical Specification are complementary to the horizontal standards by CEN/TC 411.
Surfactants are products which have the ability to reduce interfacial/surface tension, wet surfaces,
suspend materials or emulsify oils and fats. In Europe, thousands of producers, manufacturers and

1 A Mandate is a standardisation task embedded in European trade laws. M/492 Mandate is addressed to the European
Standardisation bodies, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, for the development of horizontal European Standards for bio-based products.
M/491 mandate is addressed to the development of European standards for bio-solvents and bio-surfactants.
2 EN 16575
3 EN 16760
4 EN 16751
4

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
nearly every inhabitant in Europe use surfactants every day in consumer or industrial applications. The
surfactant-producing industry is composed of mainly multinationals. Downstream users are found in
multinationals as well as SME's.
Surfactants may be produced from both fossil and renewable carbon feedstock (Ref. EN 16575:2014
nomenclature). The amount of crude oil used for surfactant production is, however, low with less than
1 % of the total world's crude oil consumption.
Finally, the approach for these Technical Reports/Specifications/Standards intends to strengthen and
harmonize the reputation of “bio-based surfactants” and the confidence of the customer in this product
group.
5

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
1 Scope
The aim of this document is to summarize the actual situation regarding many aspects regarding bio-
based surfactants and their relation to any other surfactant regardless of its origin. It will describe
existing raw material sources with regard to their current usage in surface active agents, their source
identification and conformation, and the options for communication same.
It also includes the current work on surfactants regarding their performances, their sustainability, the
LCA approaches and end of life options.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 16575 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
surfactant
organic substance, possessing surface activity which, dissolved in a liquid, particularly water, lowers the
surface or interfacial tension, by preferred adsorption at the liquid/vapour surface, or other interfaces
Note 1 to entry: “substance” as defined in REACH [2]
[SOURCE: ISO 862:1984, surface active agent 1.1 modified]
3.2
bio-based surfactant
surfactant wholly or partly derived from biomass (based on biogenic carbon) produced either by
chemical or biotechnological processing
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2019, bio-based surfactant 3.2]
3.3
bio surfactant
surfactant wholly based on biomass (based on biogenic carbon) produced either by chemical or
biotechnological processing
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2019, bio-surfactant 3.3]
3.4
degradation
transformation of a compound into smaller component parts due to the physico-chemical environment.
This may occur due to abiotic processes such as oxidation and UV adsorption
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2019, degradation 3.4]
6

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
3.5
biodegradation
transformation of a compound into smaller component parts due to biological processes,
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2019, biodegradation 3.5]
3.6
ultimate biodegradation
breakdown of organic matter by micro-organisms in the presence of oxygen to carbon dioxide, water
and mineral salts of any other elements present (mineralisation) or in absence of oxygen to carbon
dioxide, methane and mineral salts, and in both cases the production of new biomass
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2019, ultimate biodegradation 3.6]
4 Market situation and penetration of bio-based surfactants in Europe
Surfactants consist of at least one hydrophobic and one hydrophilic part. The source of these parts can
be either fossil-based or bio-based (renewable).
Traditionally, triglycerides from various oil plants are used as renewable sources for the hydrophobic
part. Suitable plants are e.g. oil palms, coconut palms, sunflowers, rapeseeds, or soy beans. The oils
taken from these plants are further chemically processed to get fatty acids by saponification or to get
fatty alcohols by methanolysis of the triglycerides and consecutive hydrogenation of the fatty
methylester.
If fossil resources are used for the hydrophobic part, there is a multitude of pathways to process either
crude oil or natural gas to build the hydrophobic building block. This includes e.g. Fischer-Tropsch
synthesis, oxo process, olefin oligomerisation, or Friedel-Crafts alkylation.
Generally, the carbon number of the hydrophobic part of a surfactant ranges from 4 to 24 carbon atoms,
whereas the majority has a carbon number between 10 and 15 carbon atoms.
Also the hydrophilic part may be derived from different sources either organic from renewable or fossil
sources or inorganic from minerals. Table 1 gives a non-exhaustive summary.
Table 1 — Hydrophilic components of surfactants and their origin
Hydrophilic source Type of material
Renewable Sugar, starch
Fossil EO, chloroacetic acid
Inorganic Sulfate, sulfonate, phosphate
The production of surfactants is carried out by multinational companies as well as SME’s. Figure 1
shows the use of bio-based and non bio-based surfactants in EU (+ Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland) in
2015. The split is close to be equal between them. Partitioning the bio-based part further into minority
bio-based surfactants (5 % < bio-based carbon content ≤ 50 %), majority bio-based surfactants
(50 % < bio-based carbon content < 95 %), and fully bio-based surfactants (bio-based carbon
content ≥ 95 %) show further details of the use of the different types of surfactants.

7

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)

Key
FBB  Fully Bio-Based (3 %)
MaBB  Majority Bio-Based (30 %)
MiBB  Minority Bio-Based (19 %)
NBB  Non Bio-Based (48 %)
Figure 1 —Proportion of bio-based and non-bio-based surfactants used in the European Union +
Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland in 2015 (Source: CESIO 2016)
5 Description of differences between bio-based and non-bio-based surfactant
5.1 Impact on biodegradability/aquatic toxicity
Surface active agents are generally discharged via treated and untreated wastewater into the
environment. Consequently, ultimate biodegradability (mineralisation) is often required for such
substances. There are numerous test methods to measure biodegradability which may be used [2].
Common criteria for biodegradability is in most cases the ultimate biodegradation within 28 days and a
pass level of 60 % of either the theoretical consumption of oxygen or the theoretical evolution of carbon
dioxide.
If these ultimate degradation methods cannot be measured because of the physical characteristics of
the surfactant other methods [3] determining the elimination can be used. Please note that the high
initial test concentration may be inhibitory because of toxic effects of the test substance to
microorganisms.
In general, structural properties and molecular weight of any substance are decisive for their
biodegradation. This is independent from the origin of the used raw materials as is shown in Table 2
where some examples are given using the methods described in [2] or [3]. Completely fossil-based
surfactants like linear alkylbenzene sulfonates LAS are biodegradable and on the other hand majority
bio-based surfactants like cetyltrimethylammonium bromide CTAB are not biodegradable.
8

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
kSIST-TP FprCEN/TR 17557:2020
FprCEN/TR 17557:2020 (E)
Table 2 — ”Examples of Biodegradability in regard of the Bio based raw material origin”
Product group Bio-based raw materials Biodegradability
Alcohol ethoxylates mixed/no yes
Alcohol alkoxylates mixed/no yes/no
Alkylphenol ethoxylates no no
EO/PO blockpolymers no yes/no
Alcohol sulfates yes/no yes
Alcohol ether sulfates yes yes
Alkyl polyglucosides yes yes
Linear alkylbenzenesulfonates no yes
Quaternary ammonium compounds mixed no
(CTAB)
Quaternary ammonium compounds mixed yes
(Esterquats)
Betaines mixed yes
5.2 Performance
Performance and properties of any molecule, including surfactants, is determined by its chemical
structure and not by the origin of its raw materials.
Surfactants are used in such a wide variety of applications that it is not convenient to evaluate their
performance with respect to each application. Therefore, a practical approach is to define a set of
measurable surfactant properties which enable technical specialists to select appropriate surfactants
and guide their evaluation.
Surfactants have the ability to
— reduce interfacial/surface tension,
— wet surfaces,
— foam or defoam,
— suspend materials, or to
— emulsify oils and fats, among others.
They make it possible to process, apply, clean or separate materials. Surfactants are widely used in
consumer and professional products and for industrial applications. Surfactants ar
...