3 min read

By-Absolutes: Sustainable Up-Cycling of Botanicals

Written By: Robin Lander

As global awareness increases, the concept of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ has become a relevant motto of our times. Minimizing waste helps us all save money, energy and natural resources. When it comes to essential oil production, sustainable practices are something of great importance to us, from ethical harvesting and environmental preservation to energy conservation and the well-being of the people involved or impacted by the process.

One of the ways we limit our waste and conserve energy is to recycle the by-products resulting from the production of essential oils. After the plant is processed via steam distillation, a large amount of botanical material remains. Often this ‘spent’ material is still quite rich in aromatics and other beneficial constituents that were not extracted through the steam. By reprocessing the remaining material with solvent extraction, an entirely new aromatic extract can be obtained – called a ‘By-Absolute’ – that has its own distinctive scent profile.

This month we launch our very special Rose By-Absolute. Utilizing the rose blossoms that remain after the hydrodistillation of our Turkish-grown Rosa x damascena enables us to make the most of the rose harvest and the wealth of aromatic molecules that are too large to pass through steam. The material is up-cycled through solvent extraction, yielding a semi-solid rose concrète. The concrète is then washed with ethanol to produce a mobile Rose By-Absolute that offers natural perfumers a different take on the aroma of Rose. The scent is a warm, sweet floral, deep and slightly animalic, with notes of tart dried fruit, tea and leather that last throughout the drydown. The result is not only a more sustainable and cost-effective Rose, but also a new olfactory experience to enrich the perfumer’s palette.

...deep, woody-green, balsamic aroma with spicy-jammy top notes...

Another botanical that lends itself well to this process is Cypress Leaf. Our Cypress By-Absolute is obtained from solvent extraction of the spent needles, twigs and branches that remain after the steam distillation of Cypress essential oil. Solvent extraction of the material yields a semi-solid, dark green concrète with a powerful balsamic-fatty and pine-like odor. The concrète produces a slightly more mobile, unctuous and greener ‘by-absolute’ containing a large amount of aromatic resin-acids, or oleoresins, that lend depth and complexity. Cypress By-Absolute has a deep, woody-green, balsamic aroma with spicy-jammy top notes over rich layers of animalic amber, damp earth and moss, and hints of hay, smoke and tobacco in the drydown. It’s smooth richness rivals Oakmoss, of which it is an interesting and economical alternative.

The limited availability of some precious botanical materials makes it prudent to maximize their extraction potential. For our Sandalwood By-Absolute, the ethically harvested heartwood of New Caledonian-grown Sandalwood trees is finely chipped, distilled for essential oil, and then what remains  is extracted to create the by-absolute. This exceptionally sustainable process renders an entirely unique woody-sweet aroma that adds a new dimension of deep warm wood and brown sugar-like notes to formulations.

Reusing botanical material enables us to offer our customers exciting new aromatic products while limiting the environmental impact. In addition, our production facilities in southern France and Spain both utilize a biomass boiler that runs on fuel derived from plant wastes leftover from distillation and extraction. This sustainable, circular energy produces thousands of tons of steam per month to run the distillation process. Our technical and research teams are always exploring new development possibilities for up-cycled botanical materials. Be sure to check back regularly to learn about our new sustainable offerings.