COLLAGEN ECO REPORT


quality standards, so we only work with fisheries that can comply with these high sustainable standards.”


She adds: “Hopefully that can also give consumers peace of mind when they choose the marine collagen peptides in our product.” There is also an argument that the marine collagen industry is helping reduce waste. Fish bones, skin, scales and fins that are a by-product from the fishing industry would otherwise be thrown away if not given new life in these types of collagen. However, it is this process of manufacturing that concerns Sonia Bainbridge, the co-founder of Raw Beauty Lab, a developer of vegan collagen for the supplements space.


“In terms of the industrial processes that are used in the animal collagen market, to take a fish, or tendons or ligaments from a cow and turn it into a white powder is an extremely energy intensive process with a lot of carbon emissions, a lot of environmental impact and runoff,” she tells Cosmetics Business.


CARBON CONCERNS


Another fishing-based concern among scientists is that trawling, which drags a heavy net along the surface of the sea bed, is also releasing high volumes of carbon emissions into the world’s oceans.


A landmark study by 26 scientists found that ocean trawling generates similar amounts of carbon emissions to that of the global aviation industry. Using satellite-inferred information on fishing activity, between 2016 and 2019, the researchers estimated that 4.9 million square km, or 1.3% of the globe’s oceans, is trawled annually, and this disturbance has resulted in the release of 1.47 billion tonnes of aqueous CO2


emissions,


“owing to increased carbon metabolism in the sediment in the first year after trawling”, the study wrote.


Global aviation, meanwhile, emitted 1.04 billion tonnes of CO2


, according to research publication Our World In Data, in 2018.


“Marine sediments are the largest pool of organic carbon on the planet and a crucial reservoir for long-term storage,” reads the study. “If left undisturbed, organic carbon stored in marine sediments can remain there for millennia. However, disturbance of these carbon stores can remineralise sedimentary carbon to CO2


likely to increase ocean acidification, reduce the buffering capacity of the ocean and potentially add to the build-up of atmospheric CO2


. Thus,


protecting the carbon-rich sea bed is a potentially important nature-based solution to climate change.”


Other formulations have also been developed on the market that indirectly tackle these environmental concerns, such as ingredients supplier JLand Biotech’s Biollagen.


Baobab (Adansonia), yeast and MSC certified fish are all sustainable sources of skin-friendly collagen, traditionally from porcine or bovine sources


Described as the ‘world’s first’ vegan-approved collagen product, the ingredient is made from Pichia pastoris yeast, using a patented fermentation process, and works similar to a collagen type III that is compatible with skin care formulations. Speaking to Cosmetics Business, the firm’s European spokesperson David Bill, explained that the environmental impact of making Biollagen is minute thanks to the product’s low-energy model, compared with other rendering processes, and that it does not rely on the farming of any materials, be it plants or animals, to be developed.


“From an environmental point of view, the carbon imprint for our product is absolutely minimal,” he says.


Be it sourced from yeast, marine life in Chinese waters or baobab from Africa, the collagen market is a widely competitive space, and accusations of marketing ploys and ineffective ingredients are commonplace among industry insiders. But it is increasingly clear that the sustainability piece of this story is fuelling deeper disagreements


WE ASK THE EXPERT


Marc St-Onge, Founder, Bend Beauty How can a beauty brand ensure their collagen is from a sustainable source? In the era of climate change, companies are being


encouraged to examine the environmental impacts of their supply chains. While food, nutraceutical and cosmetic products can be measured across many impact factors, such as land use, water withdrawal and eutrophying emissions, the most critical is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, expressed as CO2


equivalents.


Collagen has become a hero ingredient for countless beauty brands, including Bend Beauty. The majority of collagen ingredients are derived from bovine and porcine sources, both significant sources of GHG emissions.


Bend Beauty was founded on a principle of environmental stewardship , which is


therefore these collagen sources do not align with our commitment to responsible supply chain management. An alternate source for high- quality and efficacious collagen is fish skin. Bend researched multiple fish- derived collagen sources with a focus on lower carbon footprint, as well as sustainable harvest backed by third-party verification. The challenge with most fish sources is the general gap in data on fish biomass, by-catch and illegal fishing. Based on our research, we concluded that Arctic cod was the best


choice. This Icelandic fishery is MSC certified and a low carbon emitter among fisheries. The source was also close in proximity to our operations in Nova Scotia. We also decided that it was important for us to begin carrying out Life


Cycle Assessments on our products to determine the material impact across scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. The carbon footprint LCA, as well as a full sustainability strategy was completed by Upswing Solutions in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although we feel very confident in our collagen source, our ultimate goal is the rapid decarbonisation of our company.


June 2021 29


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