Innovation & Technology Collaboration & Co-Creation

Unilever Refreshing Fragrance Formulas with Upcycled Flowers

The consumer-goods giant is working with the University of Nottingham to develop sustainable fragrances from waste plants, in a bid to reduce emissions and reliance on petrochemical ingredients.

Published 6 months ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: University of Nottingham's Parimala Shivaprasad and Ray Marriott, chief scientific officer at Bridge Farm Group, select flowers from which scientists will extract essential oils. | Christopher Nunn/Unilever

Unilever has launched a pilot initiative to create sustainable fragrances from upcycled waste flowers. In partnership with the University of Nottingham, the project aims to reduce emissions by decreasing dependence on conventional, petrochemical-derived versions of key ingredients.

“Using the latest in biotech and bio-sourcing principles, we see huge potential to create a circular economy for plants by extracting valuable ingredients and creating a diverse selection of new and sustainable fragrances,” said Neil Parry, Unilever’s head of biotechnology. “Plants that don’t make the grade still have valuable materials with functional benefits and could reduce our impact on the environment. Finding multiple uses for farm waste is crucial for sustainable ingredient and product sourcing.”

This is the latest project from Unilever aimed at phasing out environmentally charged feedstocks from its supply chains: Since 2022, the consumer goods giant has been working with Geno to commercialize and scale plant-based alternatives to palm oil and fossil-fuel-derived cleansing ingredients — the current industry standard in everyday cleaning and personal-care products.

Now, the company and University of Nottingham scientists are utilizing an enhanced Soxhlet extraction method, combined with ultrasonication — which uses sound waves to agitate and break down cell walls — to efficiently extract essential oils from surplus plants including petunias, roses, marigolds, daffodils and tulips. The researchers say this method speeds up the extraction process by 40 percent — taking just 20 minutes to obtain the desired compounds.

Lincolnshire’s Bridge Farm Group — the largest producer of ornamental flowers in the UK, which supplies 90 million plants annually to UK retailers — will provide Unilever with flowers determined unfit for sale. The plants are set aside and stored in Bridge Farm’s 60-acre greenhouse, to keep them fresh long enough for scientists to transform them into high-value raw ingredients.

“At the labs in Nottingham, we’re developing energy-efficient extraction methods and enzyme-based modifications, while also evaluating the practicality and cost-effectiveness of using plant waste as a raw material,” explained Parimala Shivaprasad, an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham and founder of Retra — a startup that aims to turn India’s extensive flower waste into a sustainable source of essential oils. “This project showcases the potential of cutting-edge science and technology processes to create sustainable solutions for the future.”

Beyond essential oils, Unilever is exploring the extraction of other high-value ingredients — such as terpenes, lactones, ethers and complex sugars — for use in textile care products and for odor neutralization in personal-care formulas, further enhancing the sustainability of their product lines.

A growing number of companies are looking to plant-based alternatives as they phase out their use of petrochemical-based ingredients, and repurposing waste in the process — byproducts from production of crops including kale and coffee are increasingly becoming key ingredients in personal-care products.