Quadra Teams Up with Dispersa to Bring Food Waste–Based Biosurfactants to North American Customers
Learn about PuraSurf™, a Canadian produced, sustainable biosurfactant made from food waste, supporting local supply of greener products.
Quadra is excited to announce a partnership with Dispersa™, a Canadian cleantech startup that turns food waste into natural, affordable biosurfactants. Together, we’re bringing PuraSurf™, a new line of sustainable ingredients designed for everyday products like all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergents, and hand soaps, to market.
Surfactants are essential ingredients in many products we use daily. They are the workhorse of many of our cleaners, helping to lift and remove dirt and grease from multiple surfaces. However, most surfactants on the market today come from fossil fuels, palm or coconut oil. Fossil can leave a heavy carbon footprint. Supply chains for more sustainable palm or coconut oil can be unpredictable and sometimes unethical.
Dispersa offers a different approach. They use a proprietary fermentation process where microbes feed on food waste, such as waste oils and sugars. The microbes digest this waste and naturally produce biosurfactants.
After fermentation, Dispersa separates the biosurfactants from the mixture, resulting in a microbe-free, ready-to-use ingredient. PuraSurf biosurfactants are affordable, sustainable, and perform well in cleaning formulations.
Dispersa operates from two locations in Canada. Their headquarters is in Laval, Québec, where they have a 5,000 square foot facility for research and product development. Their other site is in Nova Scotia. Dispersa is growing fast, with a solid Canadian footprint and partners helping scale up production.
Nivatha Balendra, their CEO and Founder developed her passion for biosurfactants as a school project and later through her experience as a cancer survivor. This motivated her to focus on making safer, greener ingredients accessible to manufacturers worldwide.
For companies facing growing regulatory pressure and customer demand to switch to greener products, PuraSurf offers a practical, local option. It allows manufacturers to replace fossil fuel or palm oil–derived surfactants with a cleaner, more sustainable ingredient.
Why it matters:
- Made from food waste using natural microbes
- Microbe-free and ready to use in formulas
- Affordable and high-performing alternative to fossil fuel and palm oil surfactants
- Produced locally in Canada to support supply chain resilience
If you’re interested in learning more about PuraSurf or want to talk to an expert about how it fits your products, reach out to Quadra. We’re here to help you find sustainable, affordable ingredients that work.
More on Dispersa:
Dispersa is a Canadian cleantech startup launched in 2019. They are the world’s first manufacturer to turn food waste into biosurfactants to help cut down fossil fuel and palm oil use. They’re the first to scale this tech in Canada, making local, sustainable ingredients more available.
