John Lewis to trial beauty product recycling service

The department store retailer’s has invited half a million customers to take part in the trial, which will allow them to recycle empty make-up and skincare beauty products from any brand in exchange or £5 off a beauty purchase in-store.

John Lewis has teamed up with recycling business TerraCycle on the scheme, which will separate beauty products into their component parts and recycle them appropriately based on whether they are metal, fibre or plastic.

Each component is recycled and composted or, in the case of plastics, repurposed into pellets which can be moulded into new products such as storage containers, plastic lumber or outdoor furniture.

The month-long trial begins this month and all 36 of John Lewis’ full-line beauty service stores will participate.

John Lewis senior sustainability manager Martyn White 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.”

TerraCycle Europe’s general manager Laure Cucuron added: “Very few beauty products or beauty product packaging, outside of, say, plastic bottles, are accepted by most council kerbside recycling systems due to the complexity of the material.

“So we are delighted to be working with John Lewis & Partners to offer their customers the chance to recycle empty beauty products and packaging in John Lewis stores across the UK.”