L’Oreal and TerraCycle unveil UK make-up recycling program

24 Sep 2020 --- Personal care and cosmetics heavyweight L’Oreal is launching a recycling scheme called “Make-up Not Make Waste.” The company’s Maybelline brand is setting up recycling points across UK retail stores for its make-up products in collaboration with TerraCycle.

Consumers will be able to find recycling bins for all brands of make-up and packaging in 1.000 Tesco, Boots, Superdrug and Sainsbury’s.

The items will be collected from the stores by TerraCycle, sorted, cleaned and recycled into plastic pellets. These will be then used to create new products, such as furniture.

Foundation and concealer tubes, mascara, eyeliner and lip products, as well as compact powders and eyeshadow pallets are included in the list of accepted products. However, nail polish, make-up brushes and aerosols are not part of the recycling scheme.

L’Oreal-owned make-up and skincare brands such as The Body Shop and Kiehl’s are already part of in-store recycling programs and offer consumers rewards.

The cosmetics industry is facing a lot of controversy over its sustainability efforts. Greenpeace recently stated that, without reducing single-use plastic production, firms “cannot claim they are doing enough.”

Click to EnlargeTerraCycle will collect, sort, clean and recycle items into new plastic pellets.A recent consumer survey by Maybelline found that nearly half of make-up wearers did not know that recycling beauty products is possible. Responding to this, Stephen Clarke, head of communications at TerraCycle, explained that with the new recycling scheme spanning across retail stores, consumers will find it easier to recycle.

L’Oreal’s eco-efforts
Previously, L’Oréal boldly pledged that 100 percent of the plastics used in its product packaging will be from either recycled or bio-based sources by 2030. The goal is part of the company’s environmental sustainability program “L’Oréal for the future,” which lays down the company’s ambitions for 2030. 

L’Oréal says it is accelerating towards a model respecting planetary boundaries and reinforcing its commitment to environmental sustainability. 

“Over the past decade, we have transformed our company, putting sustainability at the very core of our business model. With our latest commitments, we are entering a new phase of acceleration of that transformation,” says Alexandra Palt, chief corporate responsibility officer at L’Oréal.

“Going beyond our direct environmental impact, helping consumers to make more sustainable choices, as well as generating positive social and environmental contribution. We seek to contribute to building an inclusive and sustainable society,” Palt adds.

L’Oréal’s goals include:

• By 2025, all of L’Oréal’s sites will have achieved carbon neutrality by improving energy efficiency and using 100 percent renewable energy.
• By 2030, L’Oréal will reduce its entire greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent per finished product, compared to 2016.
• Allocating €150 million to address urgent social and environmental issues.

Moreover, to empower consumers to make more sustainable choices, L’Oréal has developed a Product Environmental & Social Impact Labeling mechanism, endorsed by independent scientific experts and verified by an independent auditor, which will be progressively deployed for all brands and categories.

True to its promise, L’Oréal’s brand La Roche-Posay recently achieved a global first by packaging its Anthelios sunscreen in a cardboard tube, starting from May in the French market. The cardboard tube solution reduces plastic usage by a reported 45 percent. 

The innovative tube is the result of L’Oréal’s collaboration with cosmetic packaging heavyweight Albéa and is the first in a long line of cardboard solutions to follow, according to the companies. Cosmetic specialist Kiehl is set to become the next brand to adopt the eco-friendly cardboard packaging solution in 2021.

By Kristiana Lalou

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