Savons : produits, marché et évolution des matières premières

Soaps: products, markets and the development of raw materials

Société ALCIMED, 57, boulevard de Montmorency, 75016 Paris, France

Résumé

Le premier produit s’apparentant au savon est apparu dès l’Antiquité. Composé d’un mélange de cendres, de graisses, de plantes (saponaire), d’argile à goudron et de détergents minéraux, ce produit ressemblait plus à une lessive qu’à notre savon.

Abstract

Soap are divided in two categories: bar soap and metallic products which come from fatty acids. The European soap production is estimated to 850,000 t with a low annual growth and is dominated by bar soap with more than 60% shares. Tallow is the main raw material used for the production of soap. Some vegetal oils (palm, coprah, palmist, tall oil, soy…) are also used but remain smaller in volume. These vegetal sources are more and more evaluated by soap manufacturers to prevent future contamination risks linked to the ESB crisis but have not yet been used in substitution to tallow for mass production.