Beauty Takeback Scheme aims to make it easier to recycle beauty product ’empties’
Marks & Spencer has launched a Beauty Takeback Scheme that will allow customers to drop off empty beauty product packaging at 40 stores across the UK.
The high street retailer has teamed up with beauty recycling experts HANDLE to launch the scheme, which is predicted to collect over two tonnes of empty beauty packaging within its first year.
Packaging is one of the biggest sustainability challenges facing the beauty industry, with poor recycling rates due to packaging materials and components that can not be processed through mainstream recycling infrastructure.
The new scheme will enable this hard-to-recycle product packaging – which commonly ends up in landfill – to be recycled and turned into new packaging and products.
M&S customers can return any form of plastic or aluminium beauty packaging into dedicated boxes located within the store’s beauty section.
This includes packaging items that often fall through the recycling net, such as bottles, tubes, caps, pumps and tubs, and covers packaging from any retailer, not just M&S.
The HANDLE programme is starting out as a take-back recycling scheme, but aims to build toward a circular system for M&S beauty, where the materials collected are used to create new products and packaging.
Carmel McQuaid, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance at M&S, said: “Plastic is one of the biggest challenges facing the beauty industry and, whilst there is still lots more to do, we hope this scheme encourages customers to recycle their beauty empties to give them a second life and reduce the amount of packaging that goes to landfill.”
Tom Murgatroyd, Co-Founder of Handle Recycling, said: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with M&S, our mission is to reduce the environmental impact of Beauty Packaging and this partnership helps to elevate awareness and action toward this mission to the next level.”
“We aim to support M&S with projects that promote reuse and circularity, as both are challenging yet critical aspirations for us all to attain for the sake our planet and future generations.”
Image courtesy of Marks & Spencer.
