The beauty industry is led by ingredient innovation, novelty and the next new trend. But new is not necessarily better. It all depends on how materials are used, not the materials themselves. In other words, waste is a resource in the wrong place.

As circularity becomes an economic and environmental priority, the sector is being pushed to rethink which materials have value and which are simply awaiting better placement.

Upcycling is the transformation of by-products into materials of higher value. It differs from recycling by increasing quality rather than reducing it. However, the cosmetics sector still lacks a unified or legal definition to guide claims and prevent confusion. To address this gap, the following definition is proposed:

“An upcycled personal care ingredient is derived from a by-product from another process or industry. The ingredient should not be the primary reason for which the feedstock was produced or grown, demonstrating a net positive impact on the planet.”

This definition helps position waste as a misplaced resource, unused not because it lacks value, but because systems were not originally designed to exploit it. The challenge is that ingredients marketed as upcycled vary greatly. Without consistent understanding, shared language and proven traceability, there is an increased risk of greenwashing when it comes to circular and upcycled claims.

In an ideal world, claims regarding upcycled ingredients will no longer exist as circular design will be the foundation of all new product development. This may sound far-fetched, but ingredient trend data suggests otherwise.

Trend intelligence platform Spate NYC, which applies a proprietary AI model to analyse billions of signals across Google Search, TikTok and Instagram with a proven forecasting accuracy of 72% (1), identified the USA’s top five skincare ingredients by year-on-year increase for the period September 2024 to August 2025 (compared with the same period the prior year).

Image 1. Spate NYC (2025) Trending Skincare Ingredients by YOY Increase (2) (3)

Notably, three of the five top trending ingredients are animal-derived. Each also has a credible origin as a by-product from another industry.

Consumer interest in collagen is driven by the convergence of several macrotrends: the 'beauty-from-within' movement and growing interest in healthy ageing and longevity. Collagen is no longer a niche beauty product; it is a mainstream wellness staple appearing in supplements, topical formulations and nutraceuticals alike.

Collagen was the most rapidly growing skincare ingredient in the USA by Spate's measure, registering a 4.1 million year-on-year increase in consumer signals (2) (3). On Covalo, the AI-powered ingredient discovery platform used by formulators, it reached a peak of 4,576 professional searches in March 2025 (4), though searches varied greatly from month to month.

The seafood industry generates substantial waste: approximately 25–30% of fish by weight becomes waste during processing. Discarded fish skins and scales are rich in collagen, providing an upcycled marine-sourced alternative to bovine or porcine proteins that carries both ethical and functional advantages. Collagen has long been used in personal care for its moisturising properties, and despite the rise of vegan beauty, it has remained a constant skincare staple.

Beef tallow ranks as the third-fastest growing skincare ingredient in the Spate dataset, with a 953,600 year-on-year increase in consumer signals (2) (3). Social media has driven this resurgence, framing tallow as a natural, highly moisturising alternative to 'synthetic' skincare, popular within clean beauty, ancestral wellness and minimal ingredient communities. Brands have built product lines, including around it’s single-ingredient simplicity.

On Covalo, Tallow demonstrated explosive professional interest, with 1,308% growth between January and August 2025, rising from 299 searches in January to a peak of 4,213 in August (4).

The environmental implications of bovine collagen and tallow are complex. Europe alone produces more than four million tonnes of beef-related waste annually. Repurposing a fraction of this material into skincare may technically qualify as upcycling under the working definition, but their connection to high-emission food systems, deforestation and biodiversity loss complicates any sustainability claim.

A series of webinars were conducted by our team with R&D professionals in France, Spain and Switzerland in 2025 polled participants on whether animal-derived by-products such as collagen and tallow should be considered upcycled.

• 35%, 55% and 13% of respondents from France, Spain and Switzerland respectively felt these materials should not be classified as upcycled (5)
• 65%, 44% and 50% said they could accept such classification only with robust supply chain transparency and ethical validation (5)
• 0% of respondents from France and Spain believed these materials should be considered upcycled by default; 38% from Switzerland agreed (5)

The consensus is clear: animal-derived waste can be considered a viable cosmetic material within a circular framework only when supported by verified traceability and a demonstrable environmental benefit. Acceptance varies by country, but the requirement for transparency is near-universal.

PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide), the fourth-fastest growing skincare ingredient on Spate's list (2) (3), is itself derived as a by-product of salmon processing. A rapidly growing K-beauty trend focusing on skin regeneration, collagen production and tissue repair, consumer visibility accelerated significantly after Kris Jenner featured the ingredient in a sponsored TikTok post for Rejuran. Conversely, PDRN is still relatively niche on Covalo with around 40–300 professional searches per month (4).

The webinar polling data revealed a significant finding about the relationship between transformation technology and ingredient acceptability. When asked whether they were more likely to incorporate a high-tech animal-derived ingredient like a glycoprotein or PDRN than collagen or tallow, respondents showed markedly different patterns:

• 6%, 44% and 67% from France, Spain and Switzerland respectively were comfortable with high-tech derivatives without additional justification (5)
• 51%, 22% and 22% preferred to avoid animal-derived ingredients altogether (5)
• 43%, 33% and 11% would consider high-tech animal actives only with validated transparency (5)

French R&D professionals remain significantly more resistant to animal-derived ingredients regardless of processing sophistication. Spanish and Swiss teams, by contrast, show considerably higher acceptance of high-tech valorisation from animal waste, suggesting that for these audiences the determining factor is not resource origin but the sophistication and proven performance of the transformation process. The more clearly a waste stream is converted into a high-value, efficacious ingredient, the more readily it is accepted as a cosmetic material.

Curcumin ranks second in the Spate 2025 ingredient growth ranking, with a 1.6 million year-on-year signal increase (2) (3). Consumer appeal is driven by its well-documented anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, increasingly used to complement retinol and vitamin C in formulas. The ingredient benefits from the growing credibility of ancestral wellness meets science positioning. Despite this consumer visibility, curcumin records only minimal professional searches on Covalo (approximately 1–40 per month), though related searches for turmeric reach 400–1,000 per month (5), indicating a gap between what consumers are looking for and what formulation professionals are currently sourcing.

Rice rounds out the top five with a 371,400 year-on-year increase (2) (3). Consumer interest is driven by the rise of K-Beauty and J-Beauty skincare and the aspiration for a 'glass skin' aesthetic. The ingredient is associated with gentleness and combines Asian beauty heritage with modern demand for clean formulations. On Covalo, rice is a dominant professional search term, recording 2,000–7,000 searches per month (4).

But again, both ingredients could have direct waste stream origins. Curcumin could be derived as a by-product of turmeric juice pressing. Rice actives could be sourced from broken rice, a by-product of milling that would otherwise be discarded or used for lower-value applications.

These plant-based upcycled materials sidestep many of the ethical concerns associated with animal-derived ingredients. They can be positioned along a transparent, traceable and lower-carbon supply chain, making them well-suited to the evolving sustainability claims landscape.

R&D polling conducted across France, Spain and Switzerland found that 48%, 30% and 44% of participants respectively prefer ingredients from local or single-source origins where possible. Only 11% felt origin was unimportant and 0% in Spain (5).

However, a preference for local provenance can oversimplify the realities of global food systems. Food production is shaped by seasonality, climate and regional specialisation. Blueberries, for example, may be grown locally during European summer but sourced from Chile or Peru in winter. Transport emissions, so-called food miles, account for just 4.8% of total food-related greenhouse gas emissions (6), (7). Land use, farming method, irrigation demand and food waste contribute substantially more (8).

This is where upcycling demonstrates its strategic advantage. Blueberry seed oil derived from juicing waste is rich in omega-3-6-9 fatty acids and antioxidants. It has been validated for high-performance benefits including blue light absorption and has been shown to outperform a conventional blueberry seed oil with 32% more beta-carotene content. It avoids the land and resource burdens of primary crop cultivation, is not dependent on local harvest cycles and does not compete with the food supply. Provenance matters, but system-wide impact matters more.

The distinction between waste and a cosmetic material has never been more commercially consequential. Five of the most rapidly growing skincare ingredients of 2025, including collagen, curcumin, beef tallow, PDRN and rice, could each have credible origins as by-products of other industries. Whether they are positioned as genuinely upcycled or merely relabelled legacy materials will depend on the rigour of the supply chain behind them and the transparency with which claims are communicated. In an industry shaped by continuous reinvention, redefining waste placement may be the most meaningful innovation. But its value depends entirely on whether the placement is intentional, traceable and honest.