BusinessTN

This April, the very vanguard of glamour and the international trend-setters of cosmetic taste flocked to Amsterdam for the annual In-Cosmetics Conference, the world's largest gathering of personal care industry innovators and gurus. For three days, more than 5,000 visitors from 40 countries were introduced to cutting-edge products and new ingredients.

But to the surprise of many, it was news out of East Tennessee that made a significant splash in these chic circles. At the event, Loudon-based DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products introduced cosmetics companies to

the world's first corn-based glycol. Marketed under the name Zemea, the substance was one result of the company's ten-year journey to find eco-friendly alternatives to expensive chemical processes.

"There was a tremendous amount of excitement around Zemea," recalls Steve Mirshak, president of DuPont Tate & Lyle. "Previously, the only choice for most formulators has been petroleum-based glycols."

Although the natural products segment of the cosmetics industry is the fastest growing, a natural-origin glycol has been the missing link to success, Mirshak explains. Glycols are what keep products moist, and without a natural substitute to the standard and costly petroleum-based option, natural products have been unmarketable. "With Zemea, we solved these performance issues," Mirshak says.

Zemea and its industrial-grade counterpart Susterra are both versions of the company's Bio-PDO, a natural propanediol manufactured exclusively at the Loudon site. First opened in 2006, the $100 million facility is the result of a partnership welding the two parent companies' expertise into a single enterprise, merging Delaware-based DuPont's scientific sophistication with London-based Tate & Lyle's milling and fermentation specialty.

"We consider our production process and our product to be on the leading edge of biotechnology in the world," Mirshak says. "People in our community and in Tennessee may not recognize that we are using the most sophisticated biocatalyst ever developed and the largest fermentation process in producing a premium product."

DuPont initially began a search for a corn sugar-derived propanediol in the early '90s. Used in both cosmetics and industrial chemicals, propanediol is normally derived from petroleum, often a costly process. The company first partnered with California-based firm Genecorp to develop an advanced microbe or biocatalyst to ferment corn sugar to propanediol. In 2000 DuPont hooked up with Tate and Lyle to develop the actual fermentation process, which led in 2004 to the joint venture.

The production of Bio-PDO uses 40% less energy than the process used for petroleum-based propanediol, leading to a 20% reduction in greenhouse emissions. The Loudon facility, chosen because of its proximity to a Tate & Lyle wet milling site, is capable of producing 100 million pounds of Bio-PDO a year, an efficient output that saves the energy equivalent of 10 million gallons of gas a year. The company is currently ramping up its production to meet demand and expects to be working at full capacity by 2009, Mirshak says.

Susterra is currently used in industrial resin produced by Ohio-based Ashland Composite Polymers and in aircraft de-icing formulas for UK-based Kilfrost. In conjunction with companies around the world, Zemea is being developed for use in more than 15 products, including cosmetics and laundry detergents. While most of these are still in planning and negotiation phases, Vermont-based Terra Naturals has successfully brought Zemea to market with its HEALTHY line of deodorants.

"People are becoming more aware, asking more questions. 'What's this ingredient? What's it derived from?' More often than not, it leads back to petroleum," says Tanya Workman, Terra Naturals' president and CEO.

Thanks to its natural formula, Zemea has none of the skin irritation common with petroleum-based products. Also, the material does not have the sticky feel often associated with other ingredients. After the positive market response to its deodorant line, Terra Naturals is now formulating body creams and shampoos with Zemea.

For formulators, a corn-based option is increasingly attractive due to the rise in traditional material costs, Workman adds. "A lot of cosmetic ingredients are derived from petroleum, but a lot of those raw material costs are starting to go up," she says. "As formulators, [Zemea] just makes more sense."

While DuPont Tate & Lyle continues to fill orders from the industrial and cosmetic sectors, the company is keeping its eye on possible expansion—plans in which Loudon will hopefully play a part. "There are other options we are considering," Mirshak says. "But we would be very interested in expanding here."