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Shop NowJohn Lewis Launches Trial Recycling Scheme for Beauty Product Packaging
John Lewis Launches Trial Recycling Scheme for Beauty Product Packaging
John Lewis is the latest retailer to announce that it’s launching a trial in-store recycling scheme that will reward customers for taking their empty product containers back to its stores to be recycled. The department store is joining forces with TerraCycle to launch the BeautyCycle scheme for its loyalty card members, and so far 500,000 people have been invited to take part. Those who do will get £5 off any beauty products and they’ll also be helping to keep non-recyclable waste out of landfill. Customers are asked to go to their nearest store with their empty containers to get money off their next haul of beauty products.
Beauty products are hard to recycle
The scheme was launched on the 14th June in 36 of the retailer’s stores and it will run for one month. The sustainability manager for John Lewis said that customers are becoming ever more mindful about what they buy and about what happens to products once they reach the end of their life. He added that beauty products can be hard to recycle which makes it hard for customers to know what to do with them, so they often end up in the bin.
Helping customers make more sustainable choices
John Lewis says one of its key aims is to help customers make sustainable choices and it hopes the scheme will help it achieve that aim. The underlying goal is to help customers buy beauty products in a more sustainable way, making sure that materials are reused in the best way possible.
Figures from TerraCycle show that the beauty industry generates over 120 billion items of packaging, not a lot of which is eligible for recycling.
TerraCycle said it aims to tackle this issue by separating beauty packaging into metals, fibres, and plastics, which will allow it to be recycled, composted, or reused and turned into new products
TerraCycle Europe’s General Manager said that very few beauty products or beauty product packaging apart from plastic bottles are accepted by council recycling schemes because they are made from a complex mix of materials. She added that TerraCycle is delighted to be working with John Lewis to give it’s customers a chance to recycle their empty beauty packaging.
More beauty brands get on the recycling bandwagon
John Lewis isn't the only beauty brand to introduce a recycling scheme. MAC Cosmetics allows customers to exchange empty containers for products. Six containers will get you a free lipstick. The Body Shop offers customers money-off vouchers for returning empty containers, and Neal's Yard offers its customers an in-store recycling and product refill service to tackle the problem of single-use plastic being sent to landfill.