John Lewis & Partners is launching a beauty recycling trial, called BeautyCycle, which offers members of its my John Lewis loyalty programme the chance to recycle empty makeup and skincare beauty products from any brand. The high street retailer has teamed up with TerraCycle whose mission is to “eliminate the idea of waste” and does this by recycling the “previously non-recyclable” and diverting waste from landfills and incinerators. 

John Lewis’ work with TerraCycle will see up to half a million my John Lewis members rewarded with £5 off a beauty purchase when they bring empty beauty products and packaging from any brand into a shop. According to TerraCycle, the global cosmetics industry produces 120 billion units of packaging each year and very little of this packaging is accepted by local recycling programmes. 

Many beauty products are designed to be squeezable, twistable and portable and often contain caps, labels and pumps which make them harder to recycle. TerraCycle takes empty beauty packages and separates them into metals, fibres and plastics. Each component part is then recycled, composted or in the case of plastics, made into pellets which can be molded into new products like storage containers, plastic lumber and outdoor furniture.  

Martyn White, Senior Sustainability Manager at John Lewis & Partners, said: “Our customers are becoming more mindful about what they buy and what happens to products once they’ve reached the end of their first life. Beauty products are notoriously hard to recycle which can make it hard for customers to know what to do with them, which often means they end up being thrown in the bin. One of our key aims is to make 'being sustainable' as easy as possible for customers, so it doesn't have to be a difficult choice. The BeautyCycle trial will help us to do just that, enabling customers to shop and enjoy beauty products in a more sustainable way, ensuring the materials are re-used in the best way possible.”