At in-cosmetics Korea 2025, Origin by Ocean invited the global beauty and personal care industry to join a crucial discussion on the future of sensorial textures — those that feel luxurious, perform consistently, and leave minimal environmental impact.
Our Product Development Activist Marc Desmarais explains how marine biotechnology offers a regenerative path forward in replacing synthetic polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs).
The PLF Industry's Synthetic Dependency and the Beauty Sector's Opportunity
Synthetic PLFs, commonly used to thicken, stabilize, and add texture to gels, creams, and cleansers, account for over 99% of polymer content in liquid formulations globally. These fossil-based ingredients are embedded in nearly every personal care product category. However, a convergence of regulatory, environmental, and supply chain pressures is now exposing vulnerabilities:
- Rising costs and geopolitical instability around fossil feedstocks.
- Increased consumer rejection of microplastics and non-biodegradable ingredients.
- Regulatory scrutiny over biodegradability, accumulation, and toxicity.
This has opened the door to sustainable, bio-based alternatives that not only meet performance standards but also align with modern values of transparency and accountability.
Environmental Impact: More Than Skin Deep
PLFs don’t just rinse off our skin — they persist. After use, these ingredients enter wastewater systems, and many are not fully removed. They accumulate in aquatic environments, infiltrate soil via treated biosolids, and contribute to long-term pollution. Their water-soluble nature allows them to disperse widely, raising concerns about ecosystem health and bioaccumulation.
Replacing them is urgent, but not without new challenges.
The Bio-based feedstock dilemma
Transitioning to bio-based PLFs is essential, but current solutions heavily depend on land-grown crops like palm and soy. For example, to replace just the 800,000 tonnes used annually in beauty and personal (800K/36 million metric tones = 2.2% of the PLF industry) care would require:
- Over 400,000 hectares of palm oil cultivation — larger than Greater London.
- Over 3.1 million hectares for soy-based feedstock — more than the entire land area of Belgium.
All this to replace ingredients that typically make up just 1–2% of a cosmetic formula. It’s a staggering trade-off for such small functional use, and a clear call to shift toward non-land-based feedstocks, like regenerative marine biomass.
Marine Biomass: A Circular Ocean Opportunity
Origin by Ocean offers a radically different solution: regenerative marine-derived ingredients made from invasive algae like Sargassum. Unlike native seaweed or cultivated algae farms, invasive Sargassum is an environmental burden that disrupts marine life and coastal economies. By collecting and upcycling it through our patented biorefinery, we transform a marine crisis into value — extracting functional biopolymers like alginate and fucoidan, while restoring ecological balance.
This isn’t just about substitution. It’s about upgrading the entire lifecycle of cosmetic ingredients, from feedstock to formulation to biodegradability.
The Formulation Toolbox for Next-Gen Products
With our "Feel the impact" -collection, we have showcased how our ingredients solve real formulation challenges with 100% natural origin and biodegradable systems that can replace synthetics without sacrificing performance and skin feel:
- Cold-processable emulsions: Alginate + Xanthan for luxurious, stable creams.
- Silky, sensorial serums: Alginate + Guar synergy to eliminate acrylates.
- Jelly masks without crosspolymers: Alginate + Tara Gum for elasticity and bounce.
- Sulfate-free cleansing systems: Alginate-based thickening for biosurfactants.
These systems are adaptable, scalable, and aligned with green chemistry principles—without sacrificing texture or performance.
The blue economy holds great promise, but not all marine solutions are inherently sustainable. As we tap ocean resources, we must do so responsibly — avoiding monocultures, overharvesting, or biodiversity loss. At Origin by Ocean, our approach is built on circularity, ecosystem regeneration, and full biomass valorization.
The future of beauty lies in smarter systems, not more exploitation. As global supply chains seek resilience, and consumers demand purpose-driven innovation, our work at Origin by Ocean offers a model for what’s possible when biotech meets biodesign — with the ocean as both guide and partner.
Industry Insight: What the Experts Say About PLFs
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has spotlighted Polymers in Liquid Formulations (PLFs) as a pressing yet under-recognized environmental challenge. In collaboration with industry leaders like Unilever, BASF, Croda, Dow, and others, they have launched the Sustainable PLFs 2040 initiative, aiming to transform the production, use, and disposal of PLFs across sectors by 2040
The RSC calls for urgent cross-sector collaboration to accelerate the transition to biodegradable, bio-based alternatives and advocates for innovative feedstock solutions beyond traditional land-based crops, such as marine biomass. This aligns with Origin by Ocean’s mission to introduce circular, ocean-derived ingredients like alginate and fucoidan that meet both performance and environmental goals.
Learn more: Royal Society of Chemistry – Sustainable PLFs
Interested in formulating with marine-derived, biodegradable alternatives?