Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Clariant's EcoTain Label for Providing Efficient and Eco-Friendly Adjuvants for Crop Protection Chemicals

LONDON, May 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent research on the adjuvants for crop protection chemicals market, Frost & Sullivan presents Clariant with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation Leadership.

Clariant set new standards in the market with the launch of its EcoTain label of products, which is designed to address strict regulatory requirements, as well as customer demand for safer and more eco-friendly products in the agrochemical industry. These products offer an unbeatable combination of improved yield efficiency as well as environmental sustainability, thereby providing customers with an alternative to the hazardous ingredients that are currently in use.

"The primary objective of the EcoTain concept is to address the growing environmental concerns of consumers and promote social, environmental and ecological well-being," said Deepan Kannan, Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "The label offers a line of adjuvants, dispersing agents and emulsifiers that have been developed using sustainable design, manufacturing and integration processes, leading to improved yield efficiency as well as crop safety."

Synergen OS, one of the adjuvants offered under the EcoTain label, leverages a mixture of methylated seed oil and polymeric non-ionic surfactant as raw-materials, with no hazardous substances. Similarly, Synergen GL5, which enhances the wetting and contact of agrochemicals to plant surfaces, is based on polyglycerol ester and coconut fatty acids. The label's dispersing agents, such as Dispersogen PG, Dispersogen ACP 120 and Dispersogen PSL 100, and emulsifiers, including Emulsogen EL 360, Emulsogen EL 400 and Emulsogen MTP 070, are also developed using environmentally-friendly and non-hazardous materials.

To meet the highest standards of sustainability, the products are developed using the EcoTain four-stage life-cycle, which comprises sustainable design, responsible process, safe and efficient use, and eco integration. In the first stage, Clariant uses renewable, eco-friendly and safe materials. In the second stage, it employs sustainable processes and minimizes waste generation during production. In the third stage, it ensures that its products are not skin or eye irritating, deliver improved formulation efficiency and require minimum handling efforts. In the final stage, Clariant confirms that after disposal, its products leave behind a very small footprint. Clariant has set an ambitious goal for 2020 with a reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emission by 30 and 45% respectively.

Uniquely, Clariant's product development initiatives are focused on addressing specific issues of customers based on their feedback. In a test conducted by Clariant, it has demonstrated that its Synergen OS, depending on the active ingredient, enhances foliar penetration of the formulation by up to 80 percent, which demonstrates the higher efficiency of the company's products when compared to competing ones. Besides the excellent ecological profile of the individual components, another special strength of Synergen® OS lies in the pronounced reduction of drift, i.e. reducing the fraction of fine droplets, and the efficient and lasting mobilization of the active substances. In this sense, the required amounts of active substance and water in the spray solutions can be used much more efficiently or reduced appropriately. The optimized application of crop protection products contributes to significantly increasing harvest yields while decreasing labor input.

"As the processes used by Clariant are ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified, by acquiring ingredients from this company, customers are able to better address their own quality and environmental standards," observed Deepan Kannan.

The EcoTain products have been designed to include multi-functional properties, which lower the number of components that need to be registered, thereby cutting costs and registration period by up to one year, while simultaneously accelerating the time to market. Moreover, the high efficiency of the products translates to a much smaller quantity of adjuvants for better yields, which reinforces the superiority of the EcoTain products.

Driven by its success in the crop protection field, Clariant has also launched the EcoTain product line for applications in other markets such as paints and industrial applications. Furthermore, in October 2013, the company renamed its target market from 'crop protection' to 'crop solutions'. As a part of this new strategy, Clariant will focus on offering tank-mix adjuvants, seed treatment and foliar fertilizer solutions, enhanced application know-how and field performance testing for customers and farmers, in addition to its portfolio of adjuvants.

"Frost & Sullivan expects that the clever positioning is expected to further strengthen the company's brand image in the global market, which, in turn, will accelerate the adoption rate of the EcoTain products in the coming years," noted Shomik Majumdar, Vice President of Frost & Sullivan's Chemicals, Materials and Food Practice.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that that has developed an innovative element in a product by leverage of leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which in turn increases customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Clariant

www.clariant.com

Clariant is a globally leading specialty chemicals company, based in Muttenz near Basel/Switzerland. On December 31, 2013 the company employed a total workforce of 18,099. In the financial year 2013, Clariant recorded sales of CHF 6.076 billion for its continuing businesses. The company reports in four business areas: Care Chemicals, Catalysis & Energy, Natural Resources, and Plastics & Coatings. Clariant's corporate strategy is based on four pillars: managing businesses for profitability, research & development and innovation, growth in emerging markets, and repositioning of the portfolio.

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Contact:

Stefanie S. Nehlsen
Global Media Relations
Clariant International Ltd
T: +41 61 469 6742
E: [email protected]

Kristina Menzefricke
Best Practices Group
Frost & Sullivan
T: +44 (0) 207 9157862
E: [email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan