January 20, 2021
NewsWhether you’ve recently Marie Kondo-ed your life or checked the expiry dates on your makeup products, you likely have some beauty products sitting around that you need to get rid of. We’re all more aware than ever about our carbon footprint and the need to recycle products instead of sending them to landfills. While you know to throw your diet coke bottle into the recycling, you might not know what beauty products we can recycle.
Research by Garnier has shown that 56% of people don’t recycle beauty products. It’s time we change that. We’ve pulled together a quick guide on how to recycle your beauty products.
Unfortunately, most of the makeup product you use every day aren’t recyclable. However, that doesn’t mean you should throw them to the trash. As part of their sustainability missions, more brands are starting to offer their own recycling and reward programs. All you have to do is hold on to your empty products and return them to the store to get a reward.
Kiehl’s offer a ‘Recycle and Be Rewarded’ scheme, where you can collect a stamp for each empty product you bring in. 10 stamps get you a 10% off one product and Kiehl’s are donating towards two charities are part of the scheme. MAC Cosmetics are famous for their ‘Back to MAC’ programme, where you’ll receive one free lipstick when you return six empty MAC containers to a store. These schemes are win-win, and more beauty brands are jumping on the bandwagon.
Department stores are also starting to offer recycling programmes, allowing you to drop off old makeup products in store. More of these are popping up, so it’s worth seeing if there’s any in your area.
Good news, you can recycle your glass foundation bottles. Before you throw them into the recycling bin, make sure to remove the pump, and any top lid as these often aren’t recyclable. If you send the glass container to the recycling with the lid or pump attached, it might be declined and end up in landfill instead. However, not every glass bottle is recyclable. One example is nail polish bottles as the chemicals in the polish means they can’t be recycled.
If you’re recycling glass skincare bottles, it’s a good idea to clean them out first with soap, as any leftover product can contaminate other items during the recycling process.
When you finish a bottle of hairspray or dry shampoo, you can recycle it instead of throwing it into the garbage. You want to make sure the bottle is completely empty, and you’ve removed the lid and nozzle before putting it in your recycling bin.
One of the items we go through quickest is our shampoo bottles. Any beauty products you have in a plastic tube are usually recyclable. Make sure these are empty before you recycle them and clean out the bottle if possible. Leave the label on so the recycling facility can check the tube before it enters the recycling system.
When we think of recycling our beauty products, we often focus on skincare and makeup products. Depending on your local authority, you might be able to recycle your old hair straighteners and hot tools. It’s worth checking with your local recycling centre first, as you may need to drop them off at the facility yourself. If your hot tools are still working, consider giving them a second life by donating them to a woman’s charity instead of sending them to landfill.
When we talk about green beauty, sustainability and ethical consumption, it is crucial that we also include beauty biotechnology into the conversation. It is not a topic we see debated often, but we expect to see that change as we move more firmly into a more technologically driven era. If you are curious about beauty biotech and what it all means, then keep reading!
Our shopping habits are changing. Gone are the days when we would pick up the first lipstick off the shelf. Now, we’re focused on reading the ingredients in products and asking about their environmental impact. ‘Green Beauty' is products that focus on natural and organic ingredients.
Artificial intelligence is changing our everyday lives, so it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see it popping up in the fashion industry. Thanks to COVID-19, this development has been supercharged and sped up to arrive quicker than most of us expected. While it’s impossible to predict the future, especially where technology is involved, there are a few clear trends that we’re seeing.
Even before the world grinded to a halt, retail shops have been closing their doors. The convenience of online shopping meant that most people were choosing to shop from the comfort of their own homes, instead of venturing to the local high street or by going to the city. It’s a growing trend that we’ve been seeing since online shopping skyrocketed almost a decade ago. The pandemic and lockdowns led to an increase in store closures. In 2020, a lot of retail stores closed indefinitely, showing that keeping business as usual is no longer a possibility. For businesses to grow and continue to strive, they have to adapt to the revolving retail business.
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