Circular beauty: Upcycled spent grain wax, açaí and patchouli for greener valorized formulas

30 Jul 2024 --- At the forefront of the beauty sector’s eco-conscious revolution is the transformative use of upcycled ingredients that scale discarded biomaterials into valorized solutions. Personal Care Insights spotlights the latest advances in this field, featuring insights from Clariant, Givaudan and Univar Solutions.

“At Univar Solutions, we are proud to partner with key principals such as Dow, producing products like MaizeCare Clarity, derived from corn waste and used in hair styling ingredients to enhance curl retention and control frizz,” Eric Perlorca, global head of marketing, beauty and personal care for Univar Solutions, tells us.

“Inolex also develops products from waste reduction processes, creating co-products like SustOleo TL [a non-palm 100% natural solid-to-liquid emollient], used in powder formulations to prevent clumping. These are just a few examples of our commitment to supporting environmental sustainability through upcycled beauty ingredients.”

“Notable ingredients are supplied by other industry leaders, such as Stimu-Tex AS. It’s a mixture of upcycled spent grain wax, cold-processed argan oil, and shea butter that effectively relieves sensitive and irritated skin, showcasing the depth of innovation in the market.”

When evaluating an upcycled claim, Perlorca notes it is important to consider two key points: how the waste stream is identified and how to determine the ingredient’s value.

“Many manufacturers seeking to define upcycling for consumer goods often fail to answer these crucial questions comprehensively. This lack of clarity underscores the significant ambiguity surrounding the use of the term ‘upcycled,’” she notes

“Addressing these key points will help clarify to the term ‘upcycled’ and contribute to greater transparency and understanding in the consumer goods industry.”

Clariant creates natural scrubs with the cake formed from açaí pulp.Demand for upcycled
The demand for products made with clean, safe, sustainable and upcycled ingredients is steadily increasing as consumers become more aware of how their purchases impact the environment, stresses Pelorca.

“This trend is particularly driven by consumers in regions with high regulatory standards, such as North America and EMEA,” she adds. “The target demographic for these products is health and environmentally conscious consumers in the upper-middle economic class, spanning from Generation X to Generation Z.”

“As stakeholders in this industry, our role is crucial in meeting this demand. These consumers are willing to pay a slightly higher price for products that align with their values and support environmental sustainability,” she adds.

“At Univar Solutions, we have the privilege of having a broad and global perspective on new and fascinating products entering the market. With upcycled products being relatively new to the market, the future of this segment becomes especially exciting when you consider the potential of combining new and innovative ingredients to enhance the overall benefits of the end product.” 

Upcycled açaí
The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest on the planet and home to approximately 40,000 plant species, including the açaí tree. Its berries contain abundant antioxidants, which make them a powerful natural ingredient in high-performing and sustainable cosmetics, central to many oils, actives and scrubs developed by Clariant’s Personal Care Specialties company, Beraca.

Endemic to the Amazon, açaí is a very popular fruit in Brazil and one of the thousands used by Amazonian native people for medicinal and health purposes. Açaí can be found in the Amazon year-round, but its harvesting season, which happens in the Amazonian summer from August to November, is considered an event to the communities that work with the plant and who collect and transport several tons of the berries during this period.

“Beraca provides incentives such as training, the development of local projects and fair pricing to help producers. They don’t just buy raw materials and leave but help producers, getting an idea of the work they do and the importance of the work being done,” says Tadeu de Melo, president of Amprunam.

Clariant uses “as much of the açaí raw material as possible,” with the vegetable oil and anthocyanin active ingredient extracted from the pulp. Beraca creates natural scrubs with the cake formed from the pulp. All these incorporate the concepts of upcycling and zero waste.

“We work with the açaí berries from when they are picked until the final product, therefore, we have an entire quality control process for this raw material from the moment of receipt to when it leaves the factory,” details Karla Magnago, quality control coordinator at Beraca.

“With this, we have internal certification processes focused on good manufacturing practices that ensure that the entire production process is effective and safe.”

Givaudan specializes in Patchoul’Up, a 100% upcycled active ingredient able to rebalance sebum production. (Image credit: Givaudan).Givaudan’s circular patchouli
Givaudan Active Beauty specializes in Patchoul’Up, a 100% upcycled active ingredient able to rebalance sebum production, eliminate dry flakes and normalize the scalp microbiome for overall well-being. 

Sourced responsibly in Indonesia, Patchoul’Up is crafted through green fractionation from distilled patchouli leaves after their use as a raw material in fragrance creation.

Givaudan’s CMI report highlights that 85% of consumers have previously experienced dry flakes, with 40% mentioning dandruff and dry flakes as their main scalp issue. Consumers are increasingly educated on this topic, with 44% of those who have experienced dry flakes believing the cause to be an unhealthy scalp microbiome.

“We continually push the boundaries to offer new sustainable and responsibly sourced ingredients to the cosmetic industry, a ‘must-have’ to satisfy today’s customer and consumer demands,” says Fabrice Lefevre, innovation and marketing director of Givaudan Active Beauty.

“For us, upcycling is not just a trend but a true path to success on our journey as a sustainable business.”

By Benjamin Ferrer