Advanced Recycling: Benefits, Materials and Our Initiatives

Advanced Upcycling: Benefits, Materials and Our Initiatives Advanced upcycled beauty is a growing category among calls for sustainable philosophies, actions and product launches. Today's consumers are calling on beauty brands to take more significant steps to reduce their environmental impact. Deloitte's 2022 sustainability research shows that consumers rate producing sustainable products and reducing waste in production as the two most important sustainable values. Consumers care about people and the planet. They are aware of the impact caused by unused potential beauty components. To meet demand for brands and products that reflect this rising consciousness, research and storytelling around advanced upcycled materials and circular product concepts is growing.

What is Advanced Upcycling?

The advanced upcycling movement seen in beauty first emerged in the food industry. They arrived at this definition: "Advanced upcycled foods use components sourced and produced using verifiable supply chains that would otherwise not go to human consumption, and have a positive impact on the environment." Advanced upcycled beauty materials is the concept of processing and taking waste and by-products from production that were previously discarded as waste or used as low-value materials and transforming them into new, more valuable products, materials or systems. Efforts to reduce food waste and create a circular production process have changed how we select materials and produce beauty products. Brands are embracing the transformation of by-products into new materials or products for skin, hair and body that provide better quality or create better environmental value.

Benefits of Advanced Upcycling in Beauty

The circular economy is much more than avoiding waste. Upcycling oils, fruits, seeds or essences means wanting to use existing items considered 'waste' and transform them into valuable beauty materials. The circular process of upcycling materials in beauty has many advantages. Here is a selection of the benefits of upcycling materials in beauty:

Combines Nature, Science and Technology

Consumers seek familiar ingredients proven to deliver effective results. Advanced upcycled beauty formulas that combine renewable, plant-based components and scientific processes are a smart choice for improving the overall health and appearance of skin, hair and body.

Creates Unique Formulations

Brands drawing inspiration from everywhere can develop standout products by using existing materials and upcycling them in new and original ways. Applying creativity and science to beauty formulations helps make your brand, your values and your product range unique.

Reduces Environmental Impact

Using advanced upcycled ingredient materials reduces natural resources like soil and water required to grow plants and uses leftover materials to produce new finished products. Using production processes like green chemistry and renewable energy further reduces the environmental footprint of brands and formulators.

Contributes to Conscious Beauty

The push towards sustainable and conscious beauty is seeing brands turn toward circular business models that minimize waste and manage resources carefully. Advanced upcycling of beauty materials demonstrates this consciousness. From environmental, social and governance perspectives, consumers seeking authenticity and transparency are looking for beauty brands that give back more than they take.

Five Advanced Upcycled Beauty Materials

Attractive and effective ingredients are finding their place in new advanced upcycled beauty products across product categories including skincare, haircare and body care and in formats such as masks, scrubs, oils and soaps. Here, we look at five of the best advanced upcycled beauty ingredients.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is made by pressing olives and then extracting their oils. Olive oil comprises only 20 percent of an olive's weight, with the remaining 80 percent discarded during production. The renewable raw material is sought after for its rich content of vitamins A, D, E and K and antioxidant properties. Skincare manufacturers also choose olive oil because it helps moisturize and hydrate the skin and fights bacteria.

Citrus Extracts

Citrus extract is a concentrated oil typically obtained from citrus fruit peels. The citrus class spanning oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits is known for high vitamin and mineral content including vitamins B, C and E, potassium and folic acid and volatile oils. In 2022, recent research further supported the value of citrus waste including seeds, peels and pomace in cosmetics and perfumery, highlighting their nutrients, bioactive compounds and phytochemicals.

Coffee

Coffee oil, when extracted from spent coffee grounds, offers many benefits to brands and formulators because of its content's moisturizing, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos, in an interview with New Beauty, noted that less than 1 percent of the beneficial compounds containing lipids, tocopherols and polyphenols in brewed coffee grounds are extracted, with the remainder left as waste.

Coconut

Coconut oil is typically made by extracting oil from raw or dried coconut kernels. It is known for its high saturation and high fatty acid content as well as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Coconut oil is popular in dry skin formulations due to its known moisturizing effect. Coconut oil is commonly found in haircare products because its high absorption properties reach the hair shaft, helping reduce protein loss and create a healthy appearance.

Dried Fruit Seeds

Dried fruit seeds are typically discarded from fruit juice and jam production. Brands are upcycling them and using them in essences, volatile oils and other beauty ingredients to benefit from their micronutrients and antioxidant qualities. Dried fruit is known to contain all the benefits of its fresh counterpart while taking up far less space. The ingredient is 3.5 times richer in fiber, vitamins and minerals than fresh fruit.   Tips for Formulating with Advanced Upcycled Beauty Materials • Know the natural value of the advanced upcycled ingredients you are working with. • Test possible applications of your chosen advanced upcycled content to find the best formula options. • Implement the production process. • Ensure you have sufficient quantity of required materials to meet consumer expectations and demand. • Understand the properties, effectiveness and multiple functions of the ingredients you choose. • Consider material sourcing and effectiveness, carbon emissions and other sustainability commitments. • Connect with other important environmentally conscious trends such as waterless beauty and DIY. Let's take a look at some of the innovative and exciting formulas that Univar has developed with EarthOil to bring advanced upcycled materials to the beauty and personal care market.

EarthOil

EarthOil's products contain organic grape seed oil derived from seeds remaining from wine and fruit juice industries. EarthOil also represents Down Under Enterprises and their local Australian hydrosols: Lemon Myrtle, Sandalwood, Lavender, Tea Tree and Fragonia®. Hydrosols are naturally produced during the steam distillation of volatile oils. They are considered a by-product of the process and would otherwise be waste material. As saturated solutions of the plant's water-soluble components, they exhibit the same fragrance character as oils, but in a gentler format and provide delicately scented ingredient materials. At Univar Solutions, we offer a wide range of ingredients ideal for advancing beauty concepts and developing conscious formulas for the beauty and personal care market.   Pınar Yeşim Doğan Technical Sales Manager Beauty and Personal Care Univar Solutions