Scents and Sustainability

Upcycling in a Nutshell

The story of upcycling began long ago, this notion of valorizing waste has existed even before the first thrift shops opened their doors, selling second-hand items that would have otherwise gone to landfills. In beauty, upcycling has been around for more than a decade. However, studies done by Trenz®, the forecasting arm of Firmenich, show that the recent pandemic identified nature’s role as a tipping point, which leads to a market shifting towards natural and sustainable products. This puts upcycling at the forefront and emerging zero waste trends point to a raised environmental impact awareness.

Ever since Leonardo DiCaprio lent his star power for a call to action on climate change, the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) have been ingrained in the public consciousness. Those green arrows that go around in a circle are not just for show (and not just for your trash bins, either). This circular path is also the premise for recycling’s close first cousin - upcycling.

At Firmenich, upcycling is defined as the way to valorize by-products, discarded materials, waste from other industries and unused products into new materials or products of higher value for a positive impact on the environment. Compared to recycling, which involves the destruction of waste through an industrial process to create something new, upcycling takes waste in its current state and gives it a new lease on life. In a nutshell, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Upcycled ingredients are the treasures that are collected from products that would otherwise go to waste. In fragrance, by-products that are used to create ingredients and raw materials, such as unsold jasmine flowers or damaged cardamom pods, go through an extraction process to produce essential oils. This system, called circular beauty, answers consumers’ expectations for developing sustainable and delightful products that come with no buyer’s remorse and make them feel as if they, too, are contributing to preserving the environment.

Conscious Smells Good

Firmenich has a long-standing love affair with sustainability. For fragrances, its perfumers have been using upcycled ingredients in their award-winning creations for some time now, such as Ane Ayo’s “A Drop d’Issey” in 2021, which has both upcycled cedarwood, responsibly sourced from Virginia, US, and upcycled cardamom from Guatemala from the Naturals Together™ excellence in naturals program.

Today, a whole new chapter is ready to be explored with the launch of Firmenich’s Circular Collection – the only collection of 100 percent upcycled fragrances in the market. From unsold flowers and discarded lemon peels to fallen tree branches, each ingredient in these fragrances are discarded materials or by-products of transformation from other industries. The sawdust from cedarwood used to make cabinets, for example, gets a second lease on life by being upcycled to create essential oils, ready to be utilized by expert perfumers to craft exceptional scents. One such creation is Principal Perfumer Ilias Ermenidis’ “Santalina.” This new fragrance is a wonderful blend of woods and musks, combined with jasmine facets and a touch of cardamom and cinnamon. It is a prime example of how upcycled musks give an added character to the fragrance, rich and voluptuous, while enhancing the longevity of the scent.

Coming Full Circle

The idea of cycles is rooted in nature. At an early age, we were already taught about the life cycle of plants and animals – how everything comes from nature and then returns to the earth. Upcycling operates under the same premise of coming full circle. The concept of circularity is key to making the transition to a low-carbon economy a reality. Yes, upcycling has been around for some time now and almost everyone is doing it. But what Firmenich brings to the table is a best-in-class collection of upcycling ingredients, thanks to DRT’s (the world leader in developing renewable, high-quality ingredients) back-end integration, which covers all olfactive families of the palette. It also brings the company’s legacy on musks to the forefront with a new generation of upcycled musks, plus a unique marine molecule. So what does this mean when it comes to fragrance? Simple. All this variety gives Firmenich perfumers a wide playing field and allows them to create delightful, 100 percent upcycled fragrances.

Aside from coming up with unique fragrances, Firmenich’s Circular Collection contributes to making a positive impact on the three pillars of sustainability: Circularity, Biodiversity Protection and Zero Waste. It’s a win-win situation. Consumers get a diverse (sustainable!) selection of quality fragrances, offering new emotional and olfactive journeys. The planet will get a better chance to grow and thrive. And as for the rest of us, well, we get to live in it a whole lot longer.

CONSCIOUS CONVERSATIONS WITH PRINCIPAL PERFUMER ILIAS ERMENIDIS

• The best thing about creating with upcycled ingredients is... it’s not only the satisfaction of using our entire upcycled palette but, just like in every creative endeavour, you have to double your creativity and think of smart solutions because you are trying to achieve an olfactive form, or an olfactive illusion, using a very different palette of ingredients.
• Santalina was inspired by... a creative accord combining musk, sandalwood and flowers. This fragrance was inspired by our renewable, upcycled musk helvetolide®, our sandalwood molecules, our natural cedarwoods and of course, rose damascena firad.
• I created Santalina for... perfume aficionados who like to venture between the niche and the mainstream, eager to start a new olfactive journey with a 100% upcycled fragrance.