Page 161 - CW E-Magazine (28-1-2025)

News from Abroad

ducer of battery materials, to develop Europe the LFP share of lithium-ion lise the roughly 25 acres of available
a signifi cant new market for growth. batteries is expected to more than land. The location has an option for
The time is right to make this move, double to reach 35% by 2030.” further expansion and is approximately
as LFP is a critical solution for the 60 miles from the Port of Barce-
future of Europe’s energy transition,” Preparation, engineering and per- lona, which is accessible by rail, and
said Mr. Phil Brown, President of the mits for the jv site in Sallent, Spain, is also in good proximity to planned
Phosphate Solutions Division of ICL. where ICL previously operated a LFP battery plants in Europe. ICL’s
potash production site, are expected share in the facility in Spain will be
Automotive OEMs are increasing to be followed by construction and 80%, with the potential for modifi ca-
their usage of LFP to improve the subsequent operations. ICL plans to tions, pending further investment
economic competitiveness of EVs. In repurpose this location and to revita- opportunities.

ALLIANCE
IBM’s AI model to aid in L’Oréal’s pursuit of sustainable

cosmetic ingredients

French cosmetics company, equip L’Oréal’s 4,000
L’Oréal, has announced a collabo- researchers worldwide
ration to leverage technology giant, over the next several
IBM’s generative artifi cial intelligence years. In addition,
(GenAI) technology and expertise to IBM Consulting will
uncover new insights in cosmetic for- support L’Oréal in its
mulation data, facilitating L’Oréal’s use aim to rethink and
of sustainable raw materials, for energy redesign the formulation
and material waste reductions. discovery process.
Understanding the
L’Oréal said the effort will develop behaviours of renewable
a custom AI foundation model engi- ingredients in cosmetic
neered to signifi cantly increase the on bio-sourced materials and/or the formulas will help L’Oréal build out
ability of its Research & Innovation circular economy by 2030. more sustainable product lines with
teams to “reach extra performance and greater inclusivity and personalisation
consumer satisfaction in every cos- “As part of our Digital Transfor- for its consumers around the world.
metic category and every region of the mation Program, this partnership will
world”. extend the speed and scale of our inno- Foundation models are a type of AI
vation and reformulation pipeline, with model trained on a broad set of unla-
The formulation foundation model products always reaching higher stand- belled data, capable of performing vari-
is believed to be a fi rst-of-its-kind in ards of inclusivity, sustainability, and ous tasks and applying information
the industry, redefi ning AI innovation personalisation,” said Mr. Stéphane from one situation to another. These
at the “intersection of beauty, chemi- Ortiz, Head of Innovation Métiers & models have signifi cantly advanced
stry and technology”. The collabora- Product Development – L’Oréal the fi eld of natural language processing
tion combines L’Oréal’s expertise in Research & Innovation. (NLP) technology over the past several
cosmetic science with IBM’s artifi cial years, and IBM is pioneering appli-
intelligence technologies for scientifi c The creation of this AI model will cations of foundation models beyond
discoveries, to unlock a future where use a large number of formulations language, in areas such as chemistry,
science and technology can inform or and component data points to accele- time series and geospatial modalities.
help prioritise solutions that are both rate multiple tasks to be performed by According to IBM, its AI technology
ecologically responsible and innova- L’Oréal, including the formulation of has the potential to augment L’Oréal’s
tive. This effort will contribute to help- new products, reformulation of existing creativity in finding new cosmetic
ing L’Oréal meet its target of sourcing cosmetics and optimisation for scale-up formulations to transform the beauty
most of its product formulas based production – tools that will better industry.

Chemical Weekly January 28, 2025 161

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