The British Beauty Council’s Sustainable Beauty Coalition has initiated ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’, a campaign aimed at reducing beauty products packaging waste.
The project is supported by over 50 retailers, brands, and industry professionals, responding to research that highlights a significant recycling gap in the sector.
Recent findings by the British Beauty Council show that 86% of plastic beauty packaging fails to be recycled.
This statistic reveals that only 14% of beauty product containers reach recycling facilities, with a mere 9% actually undergoing the recycling process.
Furthermore, despite 79.3% of consumers considering sustainability a key factor in their purchasing decisions, only 23.4% currently opt for refillable skincare items.
The campaign, backed by high-street names such as Boots, John Lewis, and Tesco, represents a pioneering collective effort to mitigate the environmental footprint of the beauty industry.
The Great British Beauty Clean Up is committed to educating consumers on effective empty packaging management, promoting the principles of refill and reuse, and providing guidance on domestic recycling practices.
To facilitate this, the British Beauty Council is updating its interactive recycling map, which identifies various beauty business recycling programmes across the UK, offering consumers locations to dispose of their hard-to-recycle packaging.
The initiative encourages beauty shoppers to gather all nonrecyclable empties, including items too small, made of composite materials, or crafted from nonrecyclable substances.
With the support of over 50 entities, the programme aims to engage a broad audience, from fans of mass-market to independent brands, whether they shop in person or online.
Boots is contributing to the initiative by promoting its ‘Recycle at Boots’ scheme, which operates in over 800 UK stores and boasts over 330,000 registered users.
L’Oréal is also participating by highlighting its Maybelline recycling programme, available in over 1,500 UK stores, including Sainsbury’s, Superdrug, and Tesco.
On the other hand, John Lewis is inviting customers to take part in its BeautyCycle scheme, offering rewards for recycling that can be spent on B-Corp certified beauty products from brands like Medik8 and ELEMIS.
ELEMIS is set to educate its community about its recycling programme at its London venues.
Additionally, The Hut Group, which owns Cult Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC, will be featuring its ‘recycle:me’ programme, allowing recycling through a Royal Mail collection service and a network of 14,000 drop-off points, rewarding customers for their participation.
The programme, which spans throughout this month, involves a coordinated effort from retailers, brands, and businesses to address the issue of beauty products packaging waste.
