Redefining beauty

Emma Lewisham has partnered with TerraCycle® to launch a free and incentive-based recycling programme to ensure beauty products are kept in circularity.

Emma Lewisham is offering free returns and recycling for not only its products but all brands of skincare packaging that otherwise would not be recycled. Return four empty face skincare products from any skincare brand and receive $15 towards an Emma Lewisham product as a recognition of the value of this material.

Currently, 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry.

Of these, very few plastic waste items generated in the bathroom outside of bottles (excluding caps and trigger heads) are accepted by most public kerbside recycling programmes and considered non-recyclable in the general sense.

Subsequently, only nine per cent of plastics produced is recycled and 12 per cent are burned into our atmosphere. All remaining plastic waste ends up in landfill or the environment.

“Many times, companies are communicating technical recyclability versus practical recyclability and what actually will be recycled. Once I realised this, I knew I couldn’t turn a blind eye and had to act,” says Lewisham.

To participate in the Emma Lewisham Beauty Circle, beauty lovers are encouraged to create a Terra Cycle account via Terra Cycle’s website. Once they’ve activated their Terra Cycle account, they can then download a free shipping label to post empty facial beauty products directly to Terra Cycle for recycling. Currently, this is a New Zealand-only initiative and Emma Lewisham beauty products are not a requirement to participate in this initiative. Products will be recycled to create public park benches and tables.

Emma Lewisham’s goal is to recycle hundreds of thousands of pieces of product waste through the Emma Lewisham Beauty Circle.

Since launching the brand in 2019, Emma Lewisham has embodied a new sustainability standard in skincare. Emma Lewisham’s 100 per cent clean skincare line embodies the brand’s belief that luxurious, efficacious products don’t have to compromise people’s health or our planet.

All Emma Lewisham ingredients are 100 per cent ‘clean’ and materials are ethically sourced or recycled. Emma Lewisham is the first beauty brand in the world to problem-solve and produce a sunscreen tube made from 100 per cent recycled plastic, and all packaging used is compostable, with no laminate and uses natural inks. Emma Lewisham also has a consumer refill programme.

What goes around comes around

The Emma Lewisham Beauty Circle requires you to send a minimum of four empty products at a time. All beauty brands’ facial products will be accepted and consumers will receive a $15 Emma Lewisham voucher for their efforts. emmalewisham.co.nz