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Turning ocean plastic into athleisure, or leather-bound books into a luxe armchair: This transformative process of repurposing by-products or waste is called upcycling. In recent years, there's been a growing (and long-overdue) push to use more by-products and waste to optimize supply chains, from fashion to furniture to — you guessed it — cosmetics and skin-care. 

Waste is, undoubtedly, a problem in the beauty industry. In 2020, recycling company Terracycle reported that the global cosmetics industry produces approximately 120 billion units of packaging every year, for example. One way to combat that waste may be found in an obvious ally: the food industry. Beauty and food supply chains are intertwined in many ways, but there's no large-scale system in place to optimize their often shared suppliers and products. Upcycling food by-products and waste for beauty products could help combat global warming's effects, and it's an underutilized practice in the worldwide effort to save the planet. It's up to us folks on the beauty side to offer — and repurpose — an olive branch.

"Upcycling is the way forward, because as an industry, beauty is in competition with food. Food is imperative: you don't need to not have wrinkles to survive," says England-based botanist Jennifer Hirsch. "There are a lot of us on this planet, and not that much land for agriculture. There's now competition for that land, and that puts more and more pressure on resources."

Repurposing waste is one method of lightening this pressure. Brands can not only draw nutrients and pigment from things like the scraps of beet peels or cherry skins — though both make a pretty decent lip stain in a pinch — they can also use perfectly nutritious whole produce, which may not be considered food grade based on its appearance. Hirsch offers the humble cucumber as an example, one of many grocery items that may be wrapped in plastic. 

"In order to sleeve them, they have to be [shaped] straight and between a specific size," she explains. "If you're a cucumber with a kink, you won't fit [into the packing machine's channel's] and you end up on the compost heap in a huge pile of perfectly good, completely edible cucumbers that do not fit the supermarket guidelines for what a cucumber should look like."

The good news: the skin-care side is starting to make strides when it comes to snatching up this produce before it rots. As much as 20 percent of the world's banana production may be discarded due to damage or imperfection, according to one estimate. (That's about 24 million tons of bananas that go straight to the garbage!) Kadalys, a Martinique-based brand, repurposes some of these banana peels and pulp to produce omega-packed extracts used in its skin care. "Bananas have healing and antimicrobial properties," says cosmetic chemist Ginger King. "There are even [brands making] preservatives from banana leaves."

Olive groves are equally useful ground. Last year, minimalist skin-care brand Circumference sourced unused olive leaves from buzzy, California-based olive oil brand Brightland. These leaves produce an antioxidant extract used in the brand’s Daily Regenerative Gel Cleanser, and any biomaterials left over are returned to the soil as compost. It's taking the idea of trash as treasure to the nth degree.

"[Upcycling] is ideal for consumers and the planet because we're using by-products that may have just ended up in the landfill," says Pamela Marcos, senior director of product development and regulatory at Farmacy. The brand's new 10% Niacinamide Night Mask is infused with antioxidant-rich oil, cold-pressed from discarded blueberry seeds, an ingredient King says helps support collagen synthesis. (Farmacy is also working to fight food insecurity, with a commitment to donate three million meals to Feeding America in 2022.) 

"It's a win-win for everyone," Marcos explains. "It's ideal for consumers and the planet, because we're utilizing by-products that may have just ended up in the landfill. It contributes to a more circular economy." This optimized economy could be especially vital for small-operation farmers, who could turn their waste into additional revenue. Upcycling gives waste "an economic value [it] did not previously have," says Hirsch.

"We talk about the environment's vulnerability, but there’s also the sustainability of a business and sustainability of the people. What we're doing enables [farmers] to sustain themselves: to eat and to educate their kids," says Hirsch. 

It's understandably a tall order, especially for small beauty brands, to re-think the way they formulate their products. But there are a couple of ways brands can aim to carve out less of a footprint and be more consumption-conscious when creating new formulas. First, rather than cranking out new launches inspired by micro-trends born from Tiktok and other social media, brands could look to food trends. Sourcing the by-products of a particular fruit, vegetable, or spice plant that's in season or growing in popularity in the restaurant industry at large is a way of tapping in to increasing demand while helping farms and distributors. And second: Reinforce the idea that upcycling food waste isn't just a brand-builder or sustainability talking point. Brands can start with small steps toward making upcycling regular practice by integrating food by-products where they make sense, and building their commitment from there. (And as consumers, we can give our dollars to brands making that effort. )

"As far as I'm concerned," explains Hirsch, "the more money we can put back into  the pockets of the people growing things, the better… and that's ultimately funded by us buying skincare."

A version of this story originally appeared in the April 2022 issue of Allure. Learn how to subscribe here.

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