Upcycled Coffee Peptides: A Sustainable Future for Bio-Based Cosmetics

Revive is a Scottish company driving the circular economy forward with their focus on the conversion of waste streams into valuable products. The company has already developed a patented process, extracting coffee oil from spent coffee grounds. The technology has since been applied to additional food manufacturing waste streams, showing the value and wide application potential of the process. Revive's vision is to fully valorise feedstocks for their full commercial potential and maximise the environmental impact of their developments. Revive is currently engaged with several global players in the skincare market; their first target market for their sustainable ingredients. Their project, _Upcycled Coffee Peptides: A Sustainable Future for Bio-Based Cosmetics_, will take the valorisation of the spent coffee ground biomass in Scotland even further. The residual, defatted material from Revive's lipid extraction process is a promising sustainable and upcycled source of protein, which can be used as an alternative to animal and virgin crop derived peptides in personal care. Peptides have transformed the cosmetic industry in recent years with their extensive potential for improving skin health. Peptides have a wide range of biological activities making them useful ingredients in skincare formulations. Animal-derived proteins such as keratin, elastin, and collagen are well-established ingredients. However, the use of these ingredients brings its own ethical concerns. An alternative to this is the use of naturally-derived peptides. However, the use of virgin resources where there is increasing biodiversity loss, land degradation, and food insecurity is insensitive to the climate crisis and is not an environmentally sustainable business model. These issues could be combatted by the use of synthetic peptides, but this does not satisfy the demand for sustainable peptides of natural origin. Revive is inspiring a new wave of truly sustainable cosmetics with their innovative approach to producing ingredients. The project will evaluate the protein content of the defatted residue by assessing different green-chemical and enzymatic extraction techniques. The optimal protein extraction process will be chosen, and the product will be isolated and purified into a cosmetic-grade ingredient. Finally, the product's efficacy will be assessed for personal care applications. This project will work towards creating a true circular economy model by demonstrating the extensive value of commonly discarded materials. Furthermore, Revive hopes to enter an untapped market for truly sustainable natural cosmetic ingredients in which no animals are harmed, no additional food sources are farmed, and valuable materials are retained from decomposing in landfill.