Beauty brands offer recycling for makeup, skincare items
With spring comes Earth Day and gentle reminders that there are many ways to contribute to the health of our planet. When it comes to beauty – namely, skincare and makeup – a majority of items are packaged in a way that makes them difficult to recycle. The difficulty may be because of the materials, like plastic and foil bags for face masks or samples, or due to their container’s shapes that most recycling centers won’t accept, such as mascara tubes and deodorant containers. It can also be a challenge to clean out some containers, like mascara or lipstick tubes, which makes them unable to be recycled.
So, where does that leave you as the consumer? Many people want companies to make the effort to “close the loop,” meaning find a way to use more eco-friendly packaging or provide resources to recycle once the consumer finishes a product. We’ve rounded up 10 beauty brands that are paving the way for sustainability by accepting back their empty products – and sometimes other brands’, too – to be recycled.
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1. Ilia Beauty
Ilia is a popular makeup brand with a range of products from skin tints to bronzers to mascaras. Reviewed’s beauty editor tested the Ilia line and loved the serum concealer and tinted lip oil in particular.
The beauty brand claims that products are easy to apply – as simple as a dab and pat with your fingertips – and provide a naturallooking, glowy finish.
And when you finish up your dew-instilling products, you can recycle them through Ilia. Customers can mail up to 10 beauty products each month – and they can be from any brand. All you have to do is clean and dry any containers you’re planning to ship and request a prepaid shipping label from Ilia’s site.
2. Bathing Culture
Bathing Culture makes soap and body wash items for your bath and shower needs. Unlike many other brands, Bathing Culture’s is 100% soap, meaning it’s not watered down, so you only need a small amount for a single shower. For reference, the brand claims an ounce of its soap will last 10 showers – though it doesn’t specify how that compares to other soaps.
The most popular product is the Mind and Body Wash, which comes in a glass container that you can get refilled in-person at one of the Bathing Culture stores. You can also utilize the company’s subscription option that allows you to send back the bottles for a refill.
3. Burt’s Bees
You’re probably familiar with drugstore-sold Burt’s Bees – or with its best-selling lip balms or baby products. You may not, however, be aware that Burt’s Bees products can be recycled locally at Terracycle locations.
You can also request a shipping label to send your Burt’s Bee’s products back and have them recycled using Terracycle, a third-party recycling system that collects
hard-to-recycle items and materials from a variety of brands, having worked with big names like The Clorox Company, Nestle and PepsiCo, as well as several other beauty brands coming on this list.
4. L’Occitane
Another brand partnering with Terracycle is L’Occitane, known for its luxurious hand creams and bath and body offerings. The brand offers eco-friendly refill pouches for its popular products, such as the Almond Shower Oil and Almond Milk Concentrate, but in addition to refilling your products, you have the option to drop them off for recycling at L’Occitane.
Bring empty containers of lip balm, deodorant, fragrance, shampoo and more to participating L’Occitane boutiques and Terracycle will take care of the recycling. Find your local store using the map on Terraycle’s site.
5. Garnier
Drugstore brand Garnier makes a variety of hair, skin and makeup items— with its most popular offerings being its Fructis and Whole Blends lines and its home hair-color products.
Whether you buy your shampoo at the drugstore, on Amazon or directly from the Garnier site, you can participate in the brand’s recycling partnership with Terracycle. This program allows you to deposit packaging from dozens of Garnier products at a Terracycle drop location, or mail them in using a pre-paid shipping label from Terracycle’s site, where each product is cleaned, separated by material and, if glass or plastic, “recycled into raw formats manufacturers can use in new production.”
6. Lush
You’ll know if your local mall has a Lush shop as soon as you catch a whiff of its citrusy, delicious aromas. The brand’s soaps, lotions and bath bombs are both popular and beautiful.
If you’re aware of Lush’s disposition on environmental issues, it’ll come as no surprise that it offers a system for recycling the black pots that house everything from lotions to face masks to hair treatments. Once you finish the formula, rinse the pot out and return it to your Lush store. If you bring five or more in, you’ll even get a free face mask of your choice.
7. Kiehl’s
Skincare brand Kiehl’s has been peddling its “finest apothecary” products since 1851, so with that longevity, you know the brand has something good going on. In fact, we named the Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve as our best hand cream after testing more than a dozen. It’s also beloved for bestsellers the Ultra Facial Cream and the Powerful-Strength Vitamin C Serum.
Despite its age, Kiehl’s is forwardthinking when it comes to its sustainable efforts. Via its program called Future Made Better, 73% of products no longer have a carton, meaning the bottles don’t come with any excess outer packaging.
Kiehl’s also started selling over 80% of its products in packaging made with recycled materials and you can even find some formulas in 1-liter refill bags (though they’re made of plastic).
Last but not least, through the “Recycle & Be Rewarded” program, customers can return Kiehl’s containers for recycling at local Kiehl’s stores and get rewards, too.
8. Plaine Products
Plaine Products is a popular brand in sustainable circles for packaging its haircare and skincare products in aluminum, a material that can be endlessly recycled and that’s more durable than glass if dropped.
To wit, every container that Plaine sells can be sent back to be reused. The recycling program is part of buying from Plaine, so you’ll get a prepaid shipping label in your order box and you can use the same box to send your empties back.
9. E.O.S.
Known for its spherical lip balms and a selection of other skincare items, E.O.S. is another brand making sustainable strides by partnering with Terracycle to make each item it sells recyclable. You can sign up for the program on the E.O.S. website or register at a Terracycle location near you to establish a recycling “hub.” After registering, all you have to do is ship used products to Terracycle for free.
10. Izzy
Izzy is a makeup brand that sells all “zero-waste” products in 100% reusable, recyclable and carbon-neutral packaging. Of note, the brand’s Zero Waste Mascara can be purchased via a subscription model on Izzy’s site, where you receive a replacement tube every three months (which is how frequently you should replace this cosmetic anyway). The mascara comes in a canvas mailer that you use to send back your old tube, with postage paid by your subscription fee. The returned tube will be cleaned and reused for future orders.
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