EP236. The circular biorefinery model used by sustainable ingredient suppliers

What do cosmetic ingredient suppliers who embrace the concept of sustainability have in common with each other? Well, you know, I was thinking about this. I've had some amazing guests on this show over the last years and I've started to see a pattern emerge among the cosmetic ingredient suppliers who truly care about sustainability. And one of the core components that comes back in each interview I do with these wonderful ingredient suppliers is that they're taking their raw materials, the biomass from whatever plant it is that they want to turn into a cosmetic ingredient, and they then continue to extract whatever they can from it until it's literally spent or there's nothing left at all. And not only does this make good economic sense, of course, because it means that you can maximise your return from one ingredient, but it is also just good common sense to try and use all of the ingredient to its very max. So last week you heard me speak to Caterina Rica of Inklita Seaweed Solutions about this biorefinery concept that they have embedded in their processing model of using seaweed. And where they there they receive their seaweed, they then use specific solvents to extract the actives from that seaweed and they then keep on going until they've extracted every last drop of goodness from that seaweed. And that's what I want to explore on the podcast today. What is this biorefinery model and how are other suppliers applying it to their ingredients too? Let's dive in. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my green beauty opinions in which I challenge the beauty industry's terrible track record on sustainability and share my thoughts on how we make the beauty sector a better and more sustainable place. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So let's start by looking at what the definition of biorefining actually is. So the International Energy Agency has defined biorefining as the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio based products like food, feed, chemicals, materials and bioenergy. But what does that actually mean? Well, it basically means that you don't just take one type of biomass, or in the case of cosmetics, one type of raw ingredient material and then just process it once and discard everything that's left. Instead you keep going and you can then use the byproducts from one process as the input for another. And you can almost think of this as Cascading waterfalls where you process your raw materials once to extract your first product, your first ingredient in our case, and then you just keep on going until, ideally there's nothing left. So let's take an example. We're all super familiar with olive oil, so the olive oil that we use in our kitchens represents no more than about 10 to 20% of the fruit itself. So once that oil has then been extracted, what has often historically happened is that the pomace that's left. So the pomace is the thick sludge that's left after the first extraction of olive oil. And the stones that pomace and those stones, they aren't then used or exploited, they used to be discarded. But then processors started to realise that the pomace was still quite rich in oil and could be processed again. And some of the oils that are sold in the supermarkets are then from that second or consequent third or more press, because there's still good oil to be had from that pomace. And it probably won't surprise you to learn that there's even been some scandal and fraud in the olive oil industry, of course, as that pomace oil has occasionally been sold as extra virgin olive oil, therefore claiming to be the first press. But anyway, that aside, so once the oil has then been extracted as many times as possible, the remaining waste that's left can then either be used as a fertiliser, or it can be added to animal feed, or it can be turned into energy, or a myriad of other options that olive oil processors are discovering and inventing all the time. And this is really exciting because it means that not only are you creating more of a circular economy around your ingredients, but you're also doing right by the plant. Now, I know that perhaps sounds a little bit touchy feely, but I think if we're going to harvest an ingredient that a plant has spent significant amounts of energy growing, then I feel that we should do right by that plant too. Now, you're probably listening to me thinking this is all really common sense stuff, Lorraine, Surely everybody does this. And I just want to dispel that myth straight away, because simply and sadly, that isn't the case. Now, applying this biorefinery model to ingredients is often complex and it requires additional processing equipment or even additional factories. And it requires an investment to want to turn that overall process into something more circular. Let me give you one example. I read one statistic that said that the average annual trade of over 250,000 tons of essential oils that's a lot of essential oil generates. Get this, over 250 million tons of distillation residues posing environmental problems due to incineration and landfill overburden. That's 250,000 tons of essential oils generating 250 million tons of distillation residues. That is a lot of waste. That is not circular. There is no biorefinery model to be seen there and that is something that I think the industry probably doesn't talk enough about. But then think about some of the guests I've had here on my podcast even in the last 12 months, and the amazing work that they're doing to bring the circular economy to their cosmetic ingredients. So obviously last week we heard from Catherina Rica from Inklitus Seaweed solutions in episode 235 who talked about their bio refinery concept. And we heard from Thomas Kerfoot from Owen 3 in episode 199 in which he explained how they already take food industry byproducts and just keep processing them until they're done. Or Matthew Perkins from macrooceans. Or Harry McIlraith from the Upcycled Beauty Company in episodes 211 and 215. This year they were talking about similar models. So it's really exciting to hear from cosmetic ingredient suppliers to see how they are applying this circular model to their ingredients. A lot of thought goes into this and it's making the beauty industry better for it. So my challenge to you for this week is simple. If you're a formulator, buy from companies that are bringing that circularity to their ingredients. And if you're a beauty shopper, buy from brands who proactively and proudly talk about the upcycling in their ingredients. Because together we'll make the beauty industry more sustainable. Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty opinions. Remember to visit the Formula botanica website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, where have you been? Please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations. I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode.