Upcycled Beauty: Myth Busting

Published in collaboration with Covalo for #TheUpcyclingCampaign

The concept of repurposing discarded materials to create high-quality beauty products is gaining momentum. However, like with any new movement, upcycled beauty has sparked its fair share of misconceptions and myths. In this article, we'll unravel the truths behind upcycled beauty.

Raising awareness and promoting understanding are key drivers of the upcycling campaign, and the circular beauty movement. We want to dispel the misinformation and inaccuracies that are often associated with upcycled ingredients, so let's start by debunking some common upcycling myths:

Myth #1: Upcycled ingredients are dirty and contaminated

When we talk about waste, we don't mean trash but a by-product or secondary material from another process or industry, such as forestry, food and drink. It's important to understand that waste doesn't equate to something unusable. Take the food industry as an example; perfectly good produce often goes to waste due to its 'ugly' appearance or lost demand. Unbelievably, 1/3 of all food produced is lost globally causing a staggering 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions. This waste comprises a significant portion of discarded resources that could, and should, be repurposed. Upcycling allows us to create higher value materials from by-products which are nutrient-rich and provide a plethora of interesting phytocompounds for personal care.

Myth #2: Upcycled ingredients should be cheaper

This is a common fallacy that we often hear because upcycled ingredients are derived from waste. However, this oversimplification ignores the journey these materials undergo. Upcycled ingredients are sourced from by-products, so secondary or even tertiary feedstocks. However, the upcycled feedstock still needs to be procured, packaged, transported and processed into the final cosmetic raw material. This is the same as if it were derived from a primary source. So upcycled ingredients are not cheaper, as they still need to be handled and processed. The issue here is that people think that this so-called waste has no value, but we are not rifling through rubbish bins; upcycled ingredient feedstocks still hold intrinsic value. They are often precious plant-based resources too good to waste.

It's also important to consider that various cosmetic ingredients can originate from upcycled sources, even if this fact isn't always prominently advertised. There are several potential reasons for this:

• The manufacturer has limited visibility on the complete supply chain.
• For legacy ingredients, product origin isn't openly shared as provenance and sourcing have only become key points of interest in recent years.

The difference with upcycled ingredients is that the supply chain can be made more transparent. Raw material manufacturers, as well as brands, now want to shout about their sustainability values.

Myth #3: Compromised quality and efficacy

An often-cited concern is that upcycled ingredients compromise the quality and efficacy we demand from beauty products. However, such claims are far from accurate. Upcycled ingredients undergo rigorous testing and quality control measures to ensure they meet the same high standards in terms of safety and efficacy as any other cosmetic raw material. In fact, the sustainable practices associated with upcycling often result in ingredients that possess comparable, if not enhanced, quality and efficacy compared to their traditional counterparts.

An example of this is our full circle Blueberry NECTA®. This is an active oil that packs a punch against blue light. It is made from cold-pressing blueberry seeds saved after the flesh has been juiced. Just 1kg of oil diverts waste from 800,000 blueberries. Blueberry NECTA® has been tested vs a commercially available Blueberry Seed Oil and is shown to outperform this control in terms of antioxidant potential. It is also standardized to contain higher levels of naturally occurring beta-carotenes (pro-vitamin A).¹

Myth #4: Upcycling is limited to extracts and actives

While extracts and actives certainly contribute to upcycled beauty, the technology scope goes far beyond. Functional and excipient ingredients are also emerging as part of this movement. The Covalo platform as well as the Upcycled Ingredient Directory provide evidence of this diversity, showcasing a wide range of upcycled ingredients with various applications. For example:

🌊 SeaBalance 2000 from Carbonwave is an all-natural, upcycled emulsifier made from Sargassum seaweed. Described as being highly versatile and working in cold processes, SeaBalance 2000 boasts a pH range of 3.5-9.0 and can work with a concentration of oil between 10-25%. Sargassum is a floating seaweed that has become prevalent due to nutrient run-off and warming oceans. By using just one ton of Sargassum, Carbonwave can prevent 850kg of CO2e emissions.²

🌾 The CosmeGreen line from SurfactGreen provides bio-sourced cationic surfactants upcycled from sugar beets and rapeseed. These functional hair care materials also offer different hair benefits, such as conditioning, detangling, strengthening and colour protection. They can be used as alternatives to silicones, petrol-derived quats and other conventional agents to increase the sustainability of a personal care formula without compromising performance.³

🥭 Mangoboost from BIOLIE is an upcycled natural preservation booster extracted from mango kernels, a by-product of the food industry. Produced with Biolie's zero-waste patented enzymatic extraction technology, tests have shown that this ingredient has antimicrobial power and can be used to support conventional or alternative preservative systems.⁴

However, it is true that the upcycled functional and excipient offering is not yet to the same level of sophistication as actives are. To help close the circulatory gap, we need to create 100% zero-waste beauty with focus on large-scale deployment of sustainable production, investing in cleaner, low-carbon and material-efficient technologies, while curbing virgin material demands and drastically reducing material consumption. We have a call to action to the industry: we need more of these upcycled technologies.

Myth #5: Unreliable supply chain

Giorgio Dell'Acqua, chair of the New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, was reported as saying that while ingredients from upcycled food production waste appear to have promise, logistics of securing the ingredients in a useable state are a roadblock to scalability.⁵

However, if we look at the history of personal care, upcycling, by definition, is not a new concept. Raw materials like lanolin, glycerine and many seed oils are all by-products of other industries. We don't see logistics as a difficult barrier to overcome, but personal care ingredient manufacturers need to establish good partnerships with local waste producers.

There can be drawbacks when moving towards more circular processes and developers can run into problems. Finnish brand Lumene Group , a pioneer in 'Sustainable Nordic Beauty', has developed a brightening cloudberry seed oil using Nordic cloudberries but found it challenging working with such a rare fruit as yields are low, with harvesting occurring during a small window of four to six weeks in summer.⁶

But we know it's not harder to work with upcycled supply chains, just different. Instead of the traditional linear economy and process of take-make-dispose, ingredient manufacturers can reverse this: investigate what is being disposed of within their community and determine what can be created. This leads to fascinating innovation without utilizing virgin resources.

In another example, to produce our natural hair styling active Faba TONIQ®, we takes the waste leftover from hummus production. 1kg of this upcycled ingredient contains the water needed to process ~4167 chickpeas, diverting it from waste. No new materials are created — no existing resources are wasted.⁷ The supply chain in this case is very simple: all that's needed is a good partnership with local Mediterranean food producers. And if they are located nearby; even better (within 50 miles from our own manufacturing site). The producers take care of sourcing all those chickpeas needed to make hummus regularly throughout the year, and ingredient manufacturers can take from this type of continual waste stream of just a few local suppliers. The volume of food or beverages produced daily is vast compared to that of the resources needed to make personal care raw materials. There is a level of security built into upcycled supply chains as the quantity of certain waste streams outweighs the demand to produce a cosmetic active or functional ingredient.

The circular economy is also a system that is restorative and regenerative by design, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible. This emphasis on responsible sourcing helps promote a supply chain which is secure and dependable, contributing to a more resilient industry for the future.

Myth #6: Upcycling is a gimmicky trend and greenwashing

It is true that upcycling has become increasingly popular over the last years — this is clear from the increasing number of new materials launched with a proudly promoted upcycled origin. However, we know that sustainability is not a transient trend but a must as climate issues are now felt in real time. Upcycling is part of the circular economy — a green business model that focuses on preventing, reducing, reusing and extending a product's life cycle by minimizing waste across all aspects of the supply chain. To achieve circular beauty, businesses must look at every step in the creation and life cycle of a product from the ingredients used to how the packaging is disposed of. As upcycling increases supply chain transparency, it's harder to hide behind greenwashing claims and we are working with key stakeholders to further ensure credibility. We fully believe circularity will become a normal part of everyday operations across the industry as a whole, and upcycled ingredients are just the first step for beauty and personal care. 

Summary

Upcycled ingredients are derived from valuable by-products and their pricing reflects the efforts invested in sourcing, developing and processing. They can also offer quality and efficacy that rival traditional cosmetic ingredients. Upcycling encompasses more than just extracts and actives, with a growing variety of functional material technologies now being offered - but there is still room for investment in new circular technologies. Upcycled supply chain concerns are also addressed through community building, knowledge sharing, transparency and responsible practices. Ultimately, upcycling is not a gimmick, but an integral part of the circular economy movement, allowing companies to focus on responsible production and consumption.

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References

The Upcycled Beauty Company . Blueberry NECTA®. Available Online

Carbonwave . SeaBalance 2000. Available Online

SurfactGreen . Natural Surfactants. Available Online

BIOLIE . Mangoboost for cosmetic formulations. Available Online

CosmeticsDesign (2022) Mentality major barrier to upcycling: NYSCC chair's thoughts on upcycled cosmetic ingredients. Available Online

Cosmetics & Toiletries (2023) Upcycled Cosmetics. A Nordic Cloudberry Case Study. Available Online

The Upcycled Beauty Company . Faba TONIQ®. Available Online