UK beauty industry unites to tackle packaging waste

The British Beauty Council’s Sustainable Beauty Coalition has launched The Great British Beauty Clean Up, a major industry-wide initiative aimed at reducing waste in the beauty sector. The campaign brings together more than 50 retailers, brands, and industry leaders, including Boots, John Lewis, Tesco, Maybelline, Cult Beauty, LOOKFANTASTIC, ELEMIS, and L’Occitane, to help consumers make more sustainable choices when it comes to beauty packaging.

The initiative follows research from the British Beauty Council, which found that 86% of plastic beauty packaging is not recycled, with just 14% of empty containers reaching recycling plants and only 9% ultimately being recycled. Despite growing consumer interest in sustainability—79.3% of shoppers consider it important when making purchases—only 23.4% currently use refillable skincare products.

The Great British Beauty Clean Up aims to educate consumers on how to properly dispose of beauty packaging while encouraging greater use of refill and reuse options. In addition to highlighting ways to reduce waste, the British Beauty Council has updated its interactive recycling map, which helps shoppers locate UK-based recycling programmes for packaging that cannot be disposed of via household recycling bins.

Consumers are being encouraged to collect and responsibly dispose of packaging that is too small for household recycling, such as travel minis, mascara tubes, and product samples, as well as items made from composite or difficult-to-recycle materials, including makeup palettes, compacts, lipsticks, toothpaste tubes, and lotion pumps.

With widespread support from leading high-street retailers and beauty brands, the initiative is expected to make a significant impact on reducing waste across both mass-market and independent beauty brands.

Visit the British Beauty Council for more information.