Roquette’s customer support is illustrated by six examples:

• 1. Protecting the Environment with Starch cationics

  Roquette cationic starches, which are used as retention and draining aids in the paper industry, help respect the environment by reducing effluent BOD and COD.
  
  Use of these starches in surface-sizing gives similar advantages.
• 2. Fighting Air Pollution

  During agglomeration processes, certain binders may generate air pollution, notably through the emission of sulphur or nitrogen containing gases.
  
  Starch products play an important role as binders, promoting more effective agglomeration of coal dust, ores, steelwork sludge, charcoal powder and cellulose or textile wastes. This results in improved control of releases to the atmosphere.
• 3. Fighting Soil Pollution

  In the event of soil pollution by hydrocarbons, potato solubles deliver the required amounts of nutritive material to promote the growth of the micro-organisms necessary to break down the pollutants.
  
  These Roquette solubles offer the benefit of progressive release of their nitrogen and minerals. They are only slightly affected by leaching and only small quantities are therefore required.
  
  The processes involved are covered by a Roquette patent.
• 4. Improving Surface Treatment

  Complexing agents (of the EDTA type) used in the cleaning and surface treatment industries are not easily biodegraded.
  
  For theses operations, Roquette suggests using sodium gluconate, produced by starch-based fermentation.
  This “natural” product is both efficient and highly biodegradable.
• 5. Improving Food packaging

  The constantly increasing use of packaging for mass consumer products is producing ever more waste, which is often difficult to recycle and recover.
   
  In partnership with its clients, Roquette has developed a resourceful solution for food packaging: our starch is used to make trays, which means that polystyrene (made from petroleum) can easily be replaced with “sustainable” recycling solutions for this type of packaging (composting, animal feed, etc.).
• 6. Encouraging Biofuel Production

  Within the context of sustainable development, Roquette has set in place comprehensive programs of industrial innovation dedicated to energy and chemistry.

  The sectors we concentrate on include in particular:

  - The production of bioethanol which enables a significant acceleration of the worldwide introduction of cleaner alternative fuels at a reasonable cost;

  - The development of new products and new processes based on maximization of renewable agricultural resources and biotechnology rather than on petrochemical products.

   

  Such is the objective of the BIOHUB® research program conducted by Roquette.
  For the group this also means the creation of new integrated Biorefineries, for the conversion of cereals into chemicals, with ever-increasing respect for the environment.