12/01/2021

New environmentally friendly ingredients for cosmetics, personal care products and dietary supplements

An EU-funded project with the participation of ifeu has been launched to research new environmentally friendly ingredients for cosmetics, personal care products and dietary supplements made from woody and grassy residues. The EnXylaScope project aims to discover novel enzymes for debranching xylan, a polymer highly abundant in plants, to achieve required properties. Production systems will be optimised and the enzymes will be used to produce a range of consumer products. These could be a more sustainable bio-based alternative e.g. to synthetic polymers.

During the project, three types of enzymatically modified xylan will be produced and tested for six consumer products in the cosmetics, personal care and dietary supplements sectors. Advanced techniques will be used for the discovery, production and formulation of these enzymes. The project is designed so that maximal research outputs are achieved in the period and that the post-project timeframe for launching these products on the market is significantly reduced. EnXylaScope addresses the growing demand for greener bio-based products to replace less sustainable product components and therefore allowing for greener market options for the consumer.

A work package on integrated sustainability assessment analyses the environmental, economic and social sustainability and deduces recommendations on how to ensure a sustainable implementation of the technologies and products developed. IFEU leads this sustainability assessment work package and is responsible for the environmental, social and integrated sustainability assessment.

Half a year after project-start, first promising results were shared at a project meeting and further information about the project has been published on the new website www.enxylascope.eu. The latest developments can be followed via the social media channels listed there (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn und Youtube) or the newsletter.