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After the launch of the British Beauty Council’s (BBCo) The Great British Beauty Clean Up, I spent some time looking into what actually happens to our beauty empties when we’re done with them… And the figures aren’t great.
Did you know that just 14% of cosmetic packaging makes it to a recycling plant? And that only 9% is actually recycled, the rest gets sent to landfill?
As beauty enthusiasts, we go through our fair share of makeup and skincare products over the course of a year (or even a month!). And, though lots of beauty packaging is recyclable these days, there’s still plenty that can’t go in your kerbside recycling container.
So, what do we do with these empties? There has to be a better solution than just chucking them in with household waste!
Well, it turns out that there are actually a good number of beauty recycling schemes which can not only help you put these ‘unrecyclable’ containers to good use, but also reward you for doing so.
Whether it’s bonus loyalty points, discount vouchers, or even money off your next purchase, there are various ways that these beauty take-back schemes are incentivising recycling your empties.
The real question is, though, which beauty recycling schemes will reward you for bringing in your empty products. To save you some time searching, I’ve rounded up some of the best. If you’re interested, keep reading!
Which beauty recycling schemes offer rewards?
1. LOOKFANTASTIC/ Cult Beauty
LOOKFANTASTIC and Cult Beauty are owned by e-commerce giant THG which has set up its own beauty recycling scheme, recycle:me.
This scheme is meant to tackle hard-to-recycle cosmetic packaging – the type that usually gets thrown into your general waste bin if it doesn’t qualify for kerbside recycling.
recycle:me makes it super easy to send your empties off. In fact, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home, everything’s done through the recycle:me app. All you have to do is take pictures of your products, wait for them to be approved, package them up and arrange a free doorstep collection. You can drop them off at your local Post Office if you prefer though!
The app has a whole list of which items you can and can’t recycle, and instructions on how to send them off. You need to have at least five approved items in your parcel to receive your reward, which is £5 worth of Loyalty Points for Cult Beauty or LOOKFANTASTIC (you get to pick).
And what happens to your empties once you send them off? They’re processed by MYGroup (a new BBCo member) to be turned into new products and materials like MYboard™, which is an alternative for plyboard and can be used to make furniture and equipment for playgrounds, schools and refugee shelters.
2. Boots
The Recycle at Boots scheme helps you play your part in protecting the planet by offering a reward for every five beauty empties you recycle in-store.
Like the recycle:me scheme, this has to be beauty packaging which is hard to recycle at home, such as toothpaste tubes, pumps and caps, travel minis, and mascaras.
Make sure you’ve downloaded the Recycle at Boots app and made an account, then you can start logging your empties. You’ll have to wait 24hrs for the products to be validated, and as soon as they are, you’re all good to deposit them at any local Boots store with a recycling point. Just scan the QR code on the deposit box and pop them in – it’s as easy as that.
Dropping off five empties means you get 500 Advantage Card Points in return, though you do need to make a £10 purchase in-store to receive your points. So, if you know you need to top up on something from Boots, it’s worth holding onto your empties until you’re ready to shop!
As with recycle:me, your ‘unrecyclable’ packaging gets sent off to MYGroup which sorts and washes the empties, then makes them into MYBoard.
3. Lush
Lush’s Bring It Back recycling scheme calls for customers to bring back their empty packaging in exchange for one of two rewards.
You can either claim 50p for every full size qualifying item you return, which will then be taken off of a same-day in-store purchase (10ml sample pots give you 5p off per container). Or you can swap five full size items for a face mask instead.
Black plastic is notoriously hard to recycle, but not for Lush! The brand has actually has its own in-house recycling centre, the Green Hub, which processes manufacturing waste. Empty pots and bottles are broken down, melted and then reformulated into new containers or product moulds.
4. John Lewis
Five seems to be the magic number as, like the Recycle at Boots and recycle:me schemes, John Lewis’ Beauty Cycle requires customers to drop off five clean, empty product containers to receive their reward.
To recycle your beauty empties with John Lewis, simply sign up to their free My John Lewis membership. Visit your nearest store and take your five clean containers up to any beauty counter. Show your My John Lewis card and you get £5 off instantly when you spend £50 on beauty.
There is one caveat with this beauty recycling scheme though: your £5 reward only applies if you’re spending £50 on B Corp certified beauty brands.
Not sure which brands qualify? John Lewis stocks Pai, The Inkey List, Aveda, Elemis, L’Occitane, Arkive, and Medik8, to name just a few – so there is a fair selection.
5. Harrods
If you live near a H Beauty store, you’re in luck, as Harrods has partnered with MYGroup to offer free beauty recycling at it’s five UK locations: H beauty Bristol, Edinburgh, Lakeside, Gateshead and Milton Keynes.
How does it work? Just sign up for a Harrods MyBeauty rewards account, bring your empty makeup, fragrance and skincare products into your nearest store. Deposit your empties in the recycling bins near the tills and get 500 bonus MyBeauty rewards points to use on your next H Beauty purchase.
6. Sculpted by Aimee
Collect five Sculpted by Aimee empties and send them back through the brand’s ReSculpted recycling initiative.
You’ll first need to be registered for a Sculpted account. Then you need to gather your empties, rinse them out, and return them to any of the Sculpted flagship stores (in London, Belfast and Dublin) or send them off by post.
Once they’ve got your five empties (FYI 2 mini products = 1 full size product), your account will be credited with 200 Sculpted Rewards Points. That’s £20 worth of products, so it’s one of the best beauty recycling schemes to take advantage of if you’re looking to make money from your empties!
7. L’Occitane
Got some L’Occitane empties you need to get rid of? Don’t throw them away! Take them into your closest L’Occitane store and hand them in for 10% off a full price product.
These don’t actually have to be just L’Occitane empties, you can recycle products from any beauty brand here too!
You can also send off your empties by post or home collection, but you won’t receive your 10% discount if you do it this way.
8. Kiehl’s
The Kiehl’s Recycle and Be Rewarded scheme is the lowest earner in this list, but is still worth it to rack up some loyalty points!
If you’re not already a member of their My Kiehls Rewards programme, you’ll want to sign up asap. Bring your empties into your nearest Kiehl’s boutique store, and you’ll get 5 points per every full-sized skincare empty you recycle.
Have you tried any of these beauty recycling schemes? Do you think the rewards are worth it? Let me know in the comments!
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