Ecopetrol S A : , UIs and SENA will develop bio wax prototype to produce high-end cosmetics

• This initiative is part of the mission of Sages, which seeks a biodiverse, productive and equitable Colombia.
• The objective is to generate commercial and higher value alternatives from products of the region.
• The project will involve 325 palm farmers from 13 palm producing municipalities.
• Resources of the order of $17,500 million will be allocated for research.

Ecopetrol, the Industrial University of Santander and the SENA joined forces to develop a bio wax from palm oil that can be used as a raw material for the production of high-end cosmetics.

To this end, the three entities signed an agreement through which their research groups will work together to achieve a biorefineries technology and a prototype of refined bio wax that can replace the imported raw material used by cosmetic companies in Colombia.

The product seeks to be the basis for generating a new market niche for the more than 1,000 palm growers in the region or entrepreneurs who find a technological alternative in this novel line of business. Until now, palm oil is mainly used in the food or biofuel industry in Colombia.

But the potential is immense for this region since Santander is the fourth producing Department in the country of oil palm, with more than 87,000 hectares cultivated and generates some 28,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The agreement has resources of about $11,500 million that will contribute in kind to the UIS, the SENA and Ecopetrol through the ICP, represented in human capacities and access to pilot plants and scientific equipment. In addition, it will have $5.984 million coming from the general system of royalties approved by the Department of Santander.

This alliance, which will take about 37 months, will allow the transfer of knowledge between research groups, as well as access to areas of experimentation at the ICP innovation and Technology Center.

The agreement also includes the training of 325 palm growers from 13 palm producing municipalities in Santander, in the manufacture of a cosmetic sample from the bio wax, as well as workshops to mass knowledge of the industrial applications of the developed product.

For Ecopetrol, this initiative makes part of its commitments in the Mission of the Wise men, looking for a Colombia biodiverse, productive, and equitable, through the creation of ecosystems for Research, technological development, innovation and entrepreneurship to create markets around the care and use of water, protection and exploitation of our biodiversity and the development of advanced materials that are the basis for value-added products.

Bucaramanga, July 9, 2020