From farm to face as Global Bioenergies turns waste to make-up

Global Bio-chem Technology Co

04/05/2021 19:01

By Sybille de La Hamaide
    PARIS, May 4 (Reuters) - French biotech firm Global
Bioenergies  ALGBE.PA  launched a new brand of make-up on
Tuesday, with long-lasting products made from sugar beet
residues rather than petrochemicals.
    With backing from French cosmetics giant L'Oreal  OREP.PA ,
Global Bioenergies is betting on growing interest in natural
alternatives to synthetic substances for make-up products.
    The French firm has developed a process which turns residues
chiefly, from sugar beet and some wood sugar, into isododecane
which is the main ingredient in long-lasting make-up products,
such as waterproof mascaras or long-lasting liquid lipsticks.
    "Today, this isododecane only comes from petrol so there is
no way to make products with a high proportion of natural
ingredients in long-lasting make-up," Global Bioenergies
co-founder and CEO Marc Delcourt told Reuters.
    Long-lasting make-up now accounts for around 25% of the
global market and Global Bioenergies intends to make 300,000
products this year under the brand name "Last".
    These will initially sold online at an average price of 20
euros ($24), with direct sales in cosmetic shops planned later,
first in France and then in Britain.
    It will start with eye make-up which has seen sales surging
as people were forced to wear masks globally, Delcourt said. 
    Global Bioenergies initially devoted its plant-derived
isobutene, an ingredient which can be converted into gasoline,
jet fuel, cosmetic ingredients and plastics, to producing
bioethanol, but this failed to generate profits.
    The company, in which L'Oreal took a 15% stake in 2019, also
aims to supply other make-up producers, Delcourt said.  
    It will then turn to other cosmetic products which use
isododecane and hopes to go back to biofuels, notably jet fuels,
at a later stage as it ramps up capacity.
    Global Bioenergies mainly processes sugar beet from French
sugar and ethanol maker Cristal Union.
($1 = 0.8326 euros) 

 (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
 ((Sybille.deLaHamaide@thomsonreuters.com; +336 8774 4148;))