Disinfectant, never was there more demand for it than now!
The corona pandemic put hygiene under a magnifying glass. Also, the demand for flowers and plants had fallen drastically, resulting in huge numbers of high-quality plants remaining in the nurseries. All the more reason to put these ‘Corona surpluses’ to good use by valorizing them into a product that was in short supply, hand disinfectant. The production of hand disinfectant thus gained momentum.
The study of “corona surplus” in horticulture was commissioned by BioBoost and Biobased Greenport West-Holland.
Financiers of the research are municipality of Westland, province of South Holland, Stichting Innovatie Glastuinbouw (SIGN, an initiative of Glastuinbouw Nederland), Greenport West-Holland and is supplemented from the EU through the Interreg project BioBoost.
The caring nature of the disinfectant
Disinfectants are indispensable in these times. In various scents and colors, they are on store shelves. But their frequent use quickly dries out the hands and makes them rough.
With its disinfectant, VARTA can certainly make a difference in this. The recipe is based on WHO guidelines. However, we did add two things that make the disinfectant stand out: laurel oil and Celosia.
The bay laurel oil keeps the skin supple and soft and gives the product a wonderful bay laurel scent. Moreover, bay laurel is itself purifying and disinfecting, so it is definitely a good addition to a disinfectant.
The celosia extract gives a natural pink tint to the disinfectant, which provides recognition and prevents mix-ups.
Valuable, regional cooperation
What makes this product extra special is the lasting cooperation with TriStar Industries, an industrial major manufacturer of cleaning concepts for professional use. In addition, a group of three celosia growers were involved. VARTA isolated from their residual streams a natural dye that provides the light pink color of the disinfectant.
VARTA is responsible for the pure extractions and the drawing up of safety documents, so that the step from grower to industrial producer can be made quickly and in a regulated manner. This collaboration between VARTA and certified growers, researchers and producers also ensures that they can bring a high-quality, innovative and safe end product to the market that is also entirely Dutch.
