It’s estimated that the global beauty industry produces more than 120 million units of packaging each year, accounting for 70% of our industry’s waste; 95% of this packaging is thrown away with only 9% recycled. A lot of beauty waste can’t be recycled due to the materials used in manufacture.  
   
As part of the beauty industry, we believe we have the responsibility to do better and leave the world in a better place than we found it. Our aim is to take 1 million units out of circulation every year. All our brand partners contribute towards the operational cost of the scheme as part of doing business with us.  
   
recycle:me takes hard-to-recycle waste and, using our recycling partner MyGroup, breaks down the components before making them into durable plastic board, which can be reused for new projects such as creating crates in our warehouse or new equipment for schools, or – currently still in development – as packaging for future beauty products.   

A lot of beauty products actually can’t be recycled via curbside recycling and end up in landfill. This includes glass items such as fragrance bottles (which often also contain plastic and metal that are difficult to separate), mascara tubes, eyebrow gels, make up packaging, plastic lip products, samples and sachets, make up sponges, plastic jars, tubes and tubs.

We accept most hard-to-recycle beauty products including: 

• Make-up and skincare jars, tubs, pots, tubes, pallets and compacts 
• Mascara, eyebrow gels, and eyeliners 
• Lipsticks, lip stains, and lipliners 
• Samples, refill pouches, face and body mask packets, sachets, minis and travel sizes 
• Make-up brushes, makeup sponges, hairbrushes and combs 
• Perfumes and body mists and more…

To identify if your product is made of hard-to-recycle plastic look for the following numbers: 

• 3 – PVC 
• 4 – LDPE 
• 6 – PS 
• 7 – Other

Any item that can be accepted in kerbside recycling or has the following symbol: 

• 1 – PET 
• 2 – HDPE 
• 5 – PP 

Any plastic packaging that is labelled as ‘recyclable/widely recyclable’ or has equivalent signs:

• Cardboard or paper packaging  
• Glass containers (small pots and jars accepted) 
• Shampoos and conditioners 
• Shower gels and body washes 
• Dental products 
• Electronic goods 
• Aerosols 
• Medicines or licensed medicines 
• Food waste or non-beauty products 

You can send back as many products that will comfortably fit in a recycle:me bag or in the box you wish to send back to us. You need a minimum of five eligible items to earn a reward. You are given one reward per recycle:me bag or box returned.

Pack up your items (remember you need a minimum of five eligible items to receive your reward) and, in the recycle:me app, arrange a collection for a day that suits you. Then leave the item in a safe place or on your doorstep (you can also return to one of over 14,000 drop-off locations too) and it’ll be sent straight to our recycling partner. Don’t worry about a label; the postal worker will do that for you.

All materials are returned to MYGroup, our UK-based recycling partner.

Hard-to-recycle materials that cannot go through traditional recycling streams, can be processed by MYGroup to make into other products, such as street furniture or shop fittings. They also make up proprietary material called MYBoard. Originally designed as a replacement for wooden plyboards to help reduce the demand and overuse of forestry products, this versatile material is now used in a huge array of products by many joiners, shop fitters, building merchants, and general home users.

MYGroup offers full traceability - a key element in protecting our seas and environment from plastic waste. You can read more about them here.