LanzaTech, a carbon capture and biofuel startup, has signed a letter of intent with Coty, a global beauty products company, to provide sustainable ethanol from captured-carbon emissions to be used in Coty's fragrance products. 

Ethanol is a core ingredient in fragrance products, enabling the scent’s efficient dispersion. Coty’s fragrances currently contain ethanol sourced from a range of natural raw materials, including sugar cane and sugar beet, which use land, water, and fertilizers.

Coty’s scientists have worked alongside LanzaTech and production partners over the past two years to develop high-purity sustainable ethanol suitable for use in fragrances. The proposed partnership means that Coty will incorporate carbon-captured ethanol into its fragrance manufacturing process with the goal of having the majority of its fragrance portfolio using ethanol sourced from carbon capture by 2023.

Founded in 2005, LanzaTech has developed the technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial applications and ferment them using bacteria to produce ethanol, which can be used in industrial chemicals and biofuel production. In 2018, LanzaTech partnered with Shougang Group (a leading Chinese iron and steel producer) to develop the world’s first commercial facility to convert industrial emissions to ethanol. In December 2020, LanzaTech announced that its Chinese facility had produced more than 20 million gallons of ethanol from recycled steel mill emissions.