Whisky-making leftovers and rejected potatoes are finding a use in cosmetic manufacturing. Celtic Renewables, a producer of bio-based chemicals, says it uses these locally sourced materials to make bio-butanol, an alcohol that the chemical company Evonik uses to produce a cosmetic ingredient. Celtic Renewables (source, opens in new tab)
Celtic RenewablesCeltic Renewables partners with Evonik for low-carbon sustainable cosmeticsOpen source (opens in new tab)
The ingredient, ECOHANCE Soft BOL, is an emollient—a substance used to soften skin. The leftovers are starting materials for manufacturing, rather than food waste added directly to a cream. They include whisky pot ale, a liquid residue from whisky production.
This commercial example sits within a broader interest in using food-processing residues instead of newly grown crops or fossil-derived inputs. One route is fermentation, in which microorganisms turn byproducts into substances used to make cosmetic ingredients. Celtic Renewables describes its partnership with Evonik as low-carbon, but that description does not establish the finished ingredient’s overall environmental advantage. Personal Care Insights (source, opens in new tab)
Personal Care InsightsWaste-derived feedstocks push circular beauty toward commercial scale.Open source (opens in new tab)
Making that approach reliable presents a practical challenge: leftovers do not always have the same composition. AmphiStar, a company working with these raw materials, told the trade publication Personal Care Insights that this variability can make consistent ingredient quality difficult to maintain. The materials being explored include used cooking oil and other agricultural and food-processing byproducts.
Product launches suggest growing interest in keeping resources in use. Personal Care Insights, citing Innova Market Insights, reported a 56% compound annual growth rate in personal-care launches carrying “circular” claims between July 2021 and June 2026. Such claims can concern materials, production or packaging presented as reducing waste or keeping resources in circulation.
That figure measures growth in launches making claims, rather than the amount of waste-derived ingredients used or verified environmental improvements. The reporting does not supply the underlying launch counts, its definition of a circular claim or the calculation details. It therefore cannot establish how widely ingredients such as Evonik’s are being used.
Celtic Renewables’ partnership announcement does not provide a life-cycle assessment comparing ECOHANCE Soft BOL with a conventional emollient. It identifies the waste-derived raw materials and their commercial use, but does not supply the underlying analysis needed to assess the finished ingredient’s overall environmental advantage.
- Celtic Renewables · Company releaseCeltic Renewables partners with Evonik for low-carbon sustainable cosmeticsceltic-renewables.com · opens in new tab
- Personal Care Insights · News reportWaste-derived feedstocks push circular beauty toward commercial scale.personalcareinsights.com · opens in new tab
