A £3.5 million investment has been made by a South Yorkshire specialty chemicals business, doubling its footprint as it greens up consumer goods.
Libra Speciality Chemicals, part of the Sheffield-based GRI Group, has innovated with commonly used formulations, providing better performance in a less energy intensive way for active ingredients in personal care and household cleaning brands.
Salt levels have also been dropped in the betaines, produced with bespoke manufacturing technology, with clients including Procter & Gamble, Unilever and PZ Cussons.
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Well-known brands are already working to reformulate their products - from shampoo to washing up liquid - to incorporate the new ingredients, which contain just a tenth of the salt content commonly found in betaines, and could be on the shelves within a year.
Graham Royle, chairman and chief executive at GRI Group Ltd, said: “This is a transformational investment that will help create a new generation of environmentally-friendly, renewable plant-based cleaning products that are sulphate-free, energy efficient and create zero waste.
“We are committed to ‘Green Chemistry’, seeking ever-better environmental and sustainable solutions for everyday products.
“I’m very optimistic about the future. We’re innovating and winning new business in new markets around the world.”
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Libra Speciality Chemicals was founded in 1971 and employs 65 staff at its renewable energy-powered base in Irlam. Since joining GRI Group in 2010, revenues have quadrupled to £40 million and the workforce has doubled in size.
The latest investment, aided with a £2 million loan through the Lloyds Bank Clean Growth Finance Initiative, increases total betaine capacity by around two thirds.
Artificial intelligence-led, the plant can produce more than 1,000 tonnes of betaines a week and can be operated by a single worker.
Lee Bloodworth, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The innovation and commitment to sustainability shown by Libra Speciality Chemicals is truly impressive and can support the development of a new generation of eco-friendly cleaning products.
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“Growing consumer demand for sustainable products and the developing ‘green economy’ presents lots of opportunities. The Lloyds Bank Clean Growth Finance Initiative helps businesses like Libra Speciality Chemicals to seize these opportunities for growth and diversification.
“We were happy to support this development and we will continue to help businesses as they move to win new growth opportunities by transitioning to low-carbon, sustainable business models.”