LYON, France, April 1, 2014 –Solvay Silica has introduced an eco-friendly grade of its Tixosil® range of highly dispersible silica products, designed to substitute plastic beads in exfoliating body wash, facial cleanser and other specialised personal care formulations. The product is supplied in micropearl form as a replacement for plastics (PE) beads which have recently raised environmental concerns due to their potential pollution hazard when leaking from municipal waste water treatment plants.
“Tixosil® MicroPearl Silica is a non-dusting, environmentally safe and sustainable alternative to plastic beads,” says Francesca Peditto, Application Manager at Solvay Silica. “In exfoliating formulations for personal care, it combines equivalent performance with cost-saving benefits, such as superior dispersion in aqueous solutions, a wide scope for the inclusion of actives, lower surfactant concentration and reduced texturing agent usage.”
As the world’s only high-performance silica supplier with manufacturing, research and innovation facilities on four continents, Solvay produces its highly dispersible silicas in a precipitation process essentially using sand as a raw material, which is the most abundant mineral present in the crust of the earth. Tixosil® is odourless, chemically inert and considered non-hazardous in manufacture, transportation, handling and application.
“The product range already has a proven fit in oral care and nutrition applications where it must meet the strict provisions of FDA and HACCP regulations. When a leading personal care and cosmetics manufacturer was seeking to replace plastic beads in their body scrub and cleansing products, Tixosil® MicroPearl Silica provided a highly effective and eco-friendly solution. It is commercially available from eight production sites in the Americas, Europe and Asia, all adhering to the same specifications of quality and consistency to serve the growing needs of global customers,” adds Delphine Hugenot, Commercial Director for Solvay Silica in Europe.
Solvay is exhibiting at in-cosmetics 2014 in Hamburg, Germany in Hall A1 Booth G20.
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About Solvay Silica
The inventor of Highly Dispersible Silica in the 90s, Solvay Silica is today a world leader with a market share of above 60% and provides
innovative solutions to the challenges of sustainable mobility. With eight manufacturing sites and four R&I laboratories on four
continents, Silica offers innovative solutions for personal care applications such as toothpastes and exfoliating beads, animal nutrition,
high performance membranes and reinforced rubber.
As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world's top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aerospace or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society's quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,400 people in 56 countries and generated 9.9 billion euros in net sales in 2013. Solvay SA is listed as SOLB.BE on NYSE Euronext in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB:BB - Reuters: SOLB.BR).
