Washing your clothes at 25 degrees might not be that far away

Grease, food stains and dirt on clothing. If you have children, you can relate. If not, go ask your parents if they remember. Normally, you would wash clothes like this at 40 or 60 degrees, but you would not expect a wash at 25 degrees to be as efficient. However, washing your clothes at 25 degrees is already a reality in some countries, and soon it might be the same in Europe.

The advantages are clear. You don’t need to heat water to 60 or 90 degrees and thus you won’t need the same amount of energy when you do the laundry. The problem? You need enzymes that work as efficiently at colder temperatures so that you can expand the range of stains that can be removed at lower temperatures and be assured that your dirty t-shirt actually gets clean.

– The enzymes used for detergents today only work best at high temperatures, like 60 degrees, but now we want enzymes in detergent to work at low temperatures with the same effect, Nikola Lončar says as he explains that many enzymes are highly sensitive to temperature and thus risk losing their properties at around 40 degrees Celsius.

Lončar is CEO at Gecco, a Dutch company that works on making advanced enzyme technologies applicable in everyday products. Gecco is also involved in the EU-funded project OXIPRO, coordinated by NORCE. 15 partners from 11 countries are collaborating to develop new enzymes – specifically oxidoreductases – that work efficiently at low temperatures and can be used for environmentally-friendly consumer products.

– Extremely vital

NORCE research director Gro Bjerga, coordinator of the OXIPRO project, explains why they chose to focus on oxidoreductases.

– Oxidoreductases are a type of enzyme that speed up biological redox reactions; they transfer electrons from one molecule to another. They are extremely vital for us humans, for energy production, detoxification and biosynthesis in our cells.

Oxidoreductases are already used in industry, but to a less extent than other types of enzymes. And they have already made positive impacts in our lives, also outside our cells. Bjerga continues:

– Let’s take an example. Laccases are a type of oxidoreductase that has numerous uses, for example in the cleaning and textile industries for bleaching and stain removal. These enzymes can in some cases replace traditional bleaching agents. Chlorine for example may have toxic effects on water systems and may negatively impact the ecosystems, Bjerga explains.

– Using laccases instead, process temperatures can be lowered, leading to lower energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint. After use, the enzymes break down to harmless components in nature.

A golden age for enzymes?

One of the innovations in the OXIPRO project is focused on is laundry detergent. The researchers aim at contributing to lower energy consumption by developing enzymes that work in detergents and operate well at cold temperatures.

A key partner in the OXIPRO project is one of the world’s largest producers of enzymes, the Danish company Novonesis, formerly known as Novozymes. Kirk Schnorr is a specialist in new enzymes at Novonesis. He sees a potential in the Nordic region when it comes to developing enzymes for detergent that work at low temperatures.

– It could be fast, efficient organisms in the North Sea, or things that grow in the Finnish forest. Identifying enzymes from organisms growing in cold environments is a relevant avenue to explore, Schnorr says.

– In the matter of reducing the amount of chemicals used in these industries, this is going to be the golden age of enzymes. I truly believe that. We already use enzymes in products today. OXIPRO can be useful here because we are incorporating life cycle assessments for industrial applications that include the environmental impact of producing the enzymes. One advantage over many chemicals in this regard is that enzymes biodegrade leaving no chemical residues or harmful breakdown products.

Needs improvement

– If you are washing in colder temperatures, then stains are usually not removed as efficiently. This seldom has anything to do with the enzyme itself. It’s just difficult to remove soil from fabric in colder temperatures. Novonesis has already developed very efficient enzymes for detergents, but enzymes operating well in the wash at room temperature or colder can always be even further improved, underlines Schnorr.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers required laundry detergents not only to clean but also to have an antimicrobial effect that would slow down or kill bacteria and viruses. Lončar and his colleagues at Gecco are working to stabilize enzymes used in the detergent case.

– We are developing enzymes that can generate antimicrobial compounds while laundry is being washed, Lončar explains.

The challenge of upscaling

A third partner in the project is Biocatalysts Ltd, a UK based company specializing in the development and manufacturing of enzymes for food, beverage and life sciences. In the OXIPRO project, they support the detergent case study. Lilly Amore is Head of Technology Development at Biocatalysts Ltd. and knows what it takes to scale up production of enzymes.

– One of the main challenges around the manufacturing of enzymes is identifying the best way to design the production process so that it is scalable, cost-effective, and compliant with regulations, she says.

– When we produce enzymes at the research stage, we try to make sure that whatever is run at small scale can be run at manufacturing scale, she adds.

Lončar agrees with Amore. Scaling-up is difficult and expensive.

– There are a lot of challenges with regards to scale up. Regulatory barriers are high, and it requires a lot of expertise to design an enzyme production process that is scalable. We often need investment in machines, which is very high. We experience slow acceptance of fast tech development in regulations. Europe is lagging behind the US because of these constraints. The European model is not efficient, he says.

Although the industry is well-equipped with large steel tanks for the production of enzymes, optimization is better achieved at a smaller scale. In Europe, there are several open research infrastructures where research and developments on up-scaling can take place.

The National Centre for Bioprocessing and Fermentation at NORCE is one such open facility. Bjerga explains:

– Linking such existing infrastructures with academic and industrial partners is valuable for all parties for experimenting and optimizing bioproduction processes up to an industrial level.

At Novonesis, they also know just how challenging it can be to introducing new products on the market.

– The biggest challenge in the OXIRPO project is to be industrially relevant. Existing chemical-based textile and detergent solutions can be produced very cheaply, so the challenge is to produce these enzymes at an industrial scale and still do it in a way that can reduce the usage of harmful chemicals, says Schnorr.

Working on broader acceptance

Another challenge for introducing new everyday products based on enzymes to the market, is consumer acceptance. If consumers don’t know what enzymes are and how they can contribute to more effective, safer and more sustainable products and more sustainability, how do academics and the industry succeed in implementing more enzymes in everyday products?

There are no simple answers to these questions, but Lončar points to a part of the solution.

– We need to work on a better understanding of technology by consumers, which means better communication of science to the general public. And then we need more public-private partnerships, Lončar thinks.

– Science takes time, regulations take even more time. Then a four-year project is not enough to get new products to the market, so projects should last longer. I hope OXIPRO can be a part of that change, he adds.

Lilly Amore at Biocatalysts calls public-private partnerships “crucial” for the mutual benefits of knowledge sharing, and advocates for a better understanding between academia and the industry to accelerate enzyme-based solutions.

– The OXIPRO consortium where both research and industry are collaborating is a part of the solution.

At Novonesis, Kirk Schnorr also sees increasing collaboration between the public and private sector as a key to success.

– It’s about getting the innovation to the market. Novonesis and Biocatalysts can help. We are experts at scaling up, marketing them and so forth. In the beginning of the process, we are also in the discovery flow. Where is the customer? What have they asked for? We must be very clear on that. This is where the OXIPRO project can make a difference.

The coordinator of OXIPRO, Gro Bjerga, is also clear on these points.

– We went to an end-user to learn from them. Bringing in various expertise from end-users of enzymes, producers of enzymes and bridging those to scientific innovation teams is key to a successful project. If you want the solutions to absorb to the society, I mean. This is how we can make big impacts on a greener world.