Green chemistry principles have been a core part of Lubrizol Life Science - Beauty and our R&D and manufacturing processes for decades. Designed to minimize the impact of chemicals on human health and on the environment, these principles guide our innovation and deliver new products and technology with more renewable content, fewer raw materials and reduced environmental impact.

Recent examples of the integration of green chemistry principles into our beauty solutions include our Carbopol^® Aqua polymer, Carbopol^® powder and Pemulen™ polymers, each incorporating these 10 principles:

Waste prevention
Atom economy
Less hazardous chemical syntheses
Designing safer chemicals
Safer solvents and auxiliaries
Design for energy efficiency
Reduce derivatives
Catalysis
Real-time analysis for pollution prevention
Inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention

The two remaining green chemistry principles – use of renewable feedstock and design for degradation – will be addressed in our next generation of polymers launching in 2024.

These latest examples build on green chemistry that’s been incorporated through the years in the manufacturing of our active ingredients and used in our botanical extraction processes. Eight green chemistry principles are part of the manufacturing of Argireline™ Amplified peptide and Uplevity™ peptide solution, while our extraction process using Phenobio™ subcritical water (SW) technology for botanicals significantly reduces environmental impact in comparison to standard methods. A comparative study on green tea SW extraction with conventional extraction methods had the following results:

7x shorter extraction time
25% less feedstocks
No chemical solvent used
60% water savings
25% energy savings
Compostable waste

These sustainability benefits inspire our team to continue researching new ways to implement green chemistry into our R&D and manufacturing processes to provide greener solutions for future generations. Our team looks forward to sharing more of our latest efforts.

Learn more about LLS Beauty and sustainability.

Green Chemistry Principles: Role in R&D and Manufacturing