Don’t just throw away empty cosmetic packaging.
Not only can you recycle used containers, retailers such as John Lewis, Boots and Lush will reward you for your efforts! Here’s what you need to know.
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What can I recycle from my beauty supplies?
We are all more knowledgeable these days with what can and can not be recycled from our kitchen cupboards – but it’s another story when it comes to the empty pots and bottles from our beauty supplies.
So can your mascara tube be recycled and what about that empty face cream tube? The answer is yes.
On the whole you can recycle almost everything from your beauty cupboard and it doesn’t matter that these pretty little bottles, tubes and pumps are made out of different materials, as the recycling schemes will sort them out for you.
Which of the beauty recycling schemes reward you?
There are quite a few recycling schemes that will give you vouchers, discounts or even free gifts if you recycle with them. I’ve listed them below so you can easily find the one that works best for you.
Recycle at Boots
Take 5 empty beauty, wellness or dental products into a participating Boots store and Recycle at Boots will reward you.
There is a bit of preparation to do before you head to your local Boots, as you first have to register and scan the products at the Recycle at Boots Scan2recycle site, wait 24 hours, then scan the QR code on the deposit box when you drop off your empties.
Then spend £10 whilst you’re there and 500 Boots Advantage points will be added to your account – that’s the equivalent of £5 to spend at Boots, so it’s definitely worth the effort.
Recycle blister packs at Boots
You can also now recycle blister packs at Boots. It’s still using your Recycle at Boots Scan2recycle account where you’ll need to log five blister packs. Once you have dropped off the five blister packs in-store in one go, you’ll receive 100 Boots Advantage points when you spend £5. Once again, you’ll need to check which Boots store are taking part.
John Lewis BeautyCycle
John Lewis has a popular BeautyCycle scheme where you take five or more beauty empties to any John Lewis beauty counter (no glass or aerosols). In return, until recently, they gave MyJohnLewis members £5 off a £20 spend on beauty, to use there and then – a really good incentive to recycle at John Lewis.
But that has all changed and although you still get £5 off, you now have to spend £50 or more on B Corp certified beauty brands. These include Aveda, Aromatherapy Associates, Chloe, Elemis, Evolve Organic Beauty, L’Occitane, Le Labo, Neom Organics London, Pai, Rituals and Sunday Riley.
This really limits what you can spend the £5 on, so it’s a bit of a disappointing downgrade of the scheme, and means I’ll now be recycling my beauty empties elsewhere.
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Look Fantastic and Cult Beauty
This scheme is run by Recycle:me, who have partnered with both Look Fantastic and Cult Beauty. You can choose which one you want the points to go to when recycling.
You need to download the Recycle:me app, and then use it to scan in the empties you’re looking to recycle. They’ll be approved, hopefully, within 24 hours. As long as you have five items or more to recycle you can then send your cleaned bottles and bottles in the post or have them collected at your doorstep for free.
Within two weeks of them receiving your old items you’ll get £5 worth of points added to your Look Fantastic or Cult Beauty account.
Lush
With its trademark black pots already made from recycled polypropylene, Lush is ahead of the game when it comes to recycling.
But in addition to that, their Bring it Back scheme, invites customers to take 5 empty, clean Lush containers into the store and be rewarded with a free face mask. Or alternatively, you can get 50p per container returned, to use off items purchased there and then.
L’Occitane
Take your clean, empty beauty containers from any brand into your nearest L’Occitane shop and you will get 10% off purchases made at that time.
The Perfume Shop
Take any empty perfume bottle to your nearest branch of The Perfume Shop and you’ll get a saving of 15% off any purchases made at that time.
Kiehl’s
Kiehl’s Recycle & Be Rewarded scheme gives you 10 points when you take any full size empty Kiehl’s product to one of their shops. 120 points = £10 voucher to use on a full price item.
Not the best deal out there but if you use a lot of Kiehl’s products it may be worth saving those empties for your next visit and getting loyalty points to add to your Kiehl’s Family Reward scheme.
Other ways to recycle cosmetics
If you’re not bothered about vouchers, or don’t have access to these retailers, other recycling schemes exist.
TerraCycle is one of the biggest recyclers of beauty products, teaming up with a number of brands including Burts Bees.
The only items they do not recycle are glass jars (as these can go in your own recycling bin), wooden eye pencils, make-up brushes and nail varnish bottles. Visit their website to find out where you can drop your empties.