Murad, the clinical skincare brand, has announced a UK partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle to divert plastic waste from landfills. The Murad Free Recycling Programme invites brand fans to download a pre-paid shipping label via the Murad programme page, or via TerraCycle, to send off their Murad empties using UPS. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remoulded to make new products.

Beauty brands and retailers are partnering with recycling programs and banning single-use products as consumers become more conscious of sustainability. Beauty brands are looking to shift away from traditional packaging toward biodegradable, plastic-free and refillable options as consumer demand for sustainability grows more intense. Increasingly turning to biodegradable, plastic-free or refillable options for products, brands are pivoting toward limiting their waste. Retailer Credo Beauty upped the ante last year by banning all single-use products, including sample packettes and sheet masks. Nordstrom has partnered with TerraCycle to recycle empty beauty products, while Ulta Beauty has partnered with TerraCycle subsidiary Loop as a part of its conscious beauty program. Brands like Burt's Bees, Ren Clean Skincare and The Body Shop have also partnered with Loop. Experts say consumers are responding increasingly to alternate ways of receiving - and storing - beauty products. Credo credited the pandemic for the shift in attitude. "There has been a total behavioral reset from a customer standpoint, and they really want to know information, and they want to be empowered with information," said Annie Jackson, cofounder and chief executive officer of Credo Beauty. "If we were having a conversation with a customer that you can just throw [packaging] in your blue bin, she would be, like, 'Why are you bugging me?' Today, she really wants to know, and she feels empowered by that information." When the retailer first banned single-use products, which include single-use sampling materials and products such as makeup remover wipes, peel pads and sheet masks, Jackson said collaboration with brands was imperative. "Whenever we do something like that, we have calls with about 80 percent of our brand community, and we come together and share resources," she said. As a result, Credo cofounded Pact, a nonprofit beauty recycling program with fellow industry stakeholders like Hudson's Bay, Mob Beauty and Element Packaging. The program educates consumers on which pieces of their packaging can be recycled, and how. One of Mob Beauty's cofounders, Victor Casale, said reception has been strong. "On Earth Day, we launched our membership program. We have been approached by every major retailer in the beauty space in North America, and we have been approached by about 100 brands," Casale said. When Casale cofounded Mob Beauty, all of the products were designed around their refillable palettes, made of PCR plastic. "If you're trying to change your packaging or change course, it's easier to start a brand than to restage one. It's really expensive for young, indie brands," said Alisha Gallagher, cofounder of Mob Beauty. "We have a commitment that if we don't have a sustainable packaging solution, we won't launch the product." Gallagher posited that refillable packaging was more sustainable in the economical sense, too. "When you're buying into the refill system, you're actually getting better value long-term for the product you're purchasing," she said. "At least half of the cost of a single-use disposable product is the packaging that you throw away, and then repurchase. Getting that out of our system allows us to put in the expensive, PCR materials that allow the product to be of value, and sell if not for the same, then less than the competitor." Even brands whose bread and butter comes from single-use products are clueing into consumers' changing needs. The clinical skin care brand 111Skin, which was founded by plastic surgeon Yannis Alexandrides, earlier this year launched its first multiuse mask lines to accompany its cult-favorite sheet mask assortment in a move away from the single-use format. The line, which includes six products that range in price from $135 to $150, is reflective of turning tides with more sophisticated beauty consumers. "When we first started 10 years ago, sustainability was not on the forefront, it was more about the quality of the product," said Eva Alexandridis, CEO of 111Skin. "Our clients are very in-tune with what is sustainable," Alexandridis continued. "We keep trying to innovate with our paper packaging. There are clients out there that would not want to use single-use products, and others are OK if it is biodegradable and done in a sustainable fashion. All of our biocellulose masks are biodegradable and fully recyclable, and we want to give choices to our clients."

With language like “circular” and “climate-positive” swirling around the best sustainable beauty brands of 2021, this is the year to consider your relationship with “wish-cycling.” If you haven’t heard the term, you might already be doing it. “Tossing stuff in the curbside bin and hoping for the best” is how Mia Davis, Credo’s VP of impact and sustainability, defines it. That said, the problem starts long before your wish-cycling. “Brands and municipal recycling facilities don't usually offer guidance, and a lot of plastic beauty packaging doesn't even have resin identification code on it,” says Davis, pointing out that in 2018, an estimated 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging were produced globally. “Most beauty products are packaged in plastic—think of all of the plastic compacts, lipsticks, squeezable tubes, jars, caps and pumps...but only about nine percent of plastic is recycled.” When the rest is incinerated, landfilled, or dumped, and consumers are scream-requesting that Big Beauty recognizes and reforms its role in this wasteful cycle, industry experts are addressing the issue in a number of ways. Credo's Sustainable Packaging Guidelines require brands to share accurate disposal instructions with customers, plus eliminate single-use packaging by the first of June. That means no more sheet masks, makeup wipes, treatment pads, or tiny sample packets (an industry first, according to Davis). Plus, a new Pact Collective recycling program launches today, bringing beauty stakeholders together “to take responsibility for the impacts of our packaging.” Pact Bins will be available inside Credo (US) and Hudson's Bay (Canada) stores so that specialty recyclers can handle and reuse materials from products dropped inside. For the Loop by Ulta Beauty project via Terracycle (the company making it easier than ever to do the right thing for “hard-to-recycle” pieces), Heather Crawford, Loop’s VP of marketing and platform, explains that the goal is to move beyond recycling and into reusing. “It’s actually about reducing the amount of raw materials that need to be constantly extracted, processed, produced, and transported time and time again to create a new unit of disposable packaging,” she says. Crawford works directly with brands to figure out ways to hygienically clean existing packaging to refill and redistribute it, or to design new models (like Dermalogica’s minimalist stainless steel bottles or Burt’s Bees’ counter-worthy cleanser vessels) that can meet extended lifecycle requirements. “Our minimum threshold for using a package on the platform is 10 cycles, and often in a really durable material like glass, it can go around up to hundreds of times,” Crawford says. They’ve also revolutionized the delivery method, with orders arriving in a durable, padded tote that customers can store until they reload it with empties and have it picked up directly from home. No more bubble wrap, paper sleeves, and throwaway fluff. Of course, packaging isn’t the only thing that makes a product circular or conscious. Factors like production methods, clean energy, harvesting techniques, and ingredient sourcing all play into a mission to improve wasteful or unethical practices. Below, an assortment of products that are stepping (with large and small strides) into the sustainable future:

Izzy Zero Waste Mascara

Izzy Zero Waste Mascara

$39 IZZY SHOP NOW Touting itself as “the world’s first zero waste mascara,” Izzy’s just-launched mascara is reusable, recyclable, and CarbonNeutral®. Thanks to a medical-grade stainless steel tube designed to be refilled again and again, once the formula runs out, it can be dropped in a multi-use mailer (where even the shipping process is zero-waste).

Circumference Daily Regenerative Gel Cleanser

Circumference Daily Regenerative Gel Cleanser

$48 CIRCUMFERENCE SHOP NOW The main bioactive ingredient in this cleanser, olive leaf extract, is a byproduct (meaning otherwise unusable) from a family-run California farm’s olive harvest. Circumference utilizes the olive leaves that would have otherwise been biowaste to carefully (and with a chemical-free method) extract potent actives, then returns the mulch to the farm to be used as compost for a circular production system.

Rose Hermes Silky Blush Powder Refill

Rose Hermès Silky Blush Powder Refill

$48 HERMES PARIS SHOP NOW A marriage of high fashion and forward-looking logic, Hermes’s blush refill comes with a tiny key that can be inserted to pop out the powder pan and replace it with a new one. Perfect for the consumer who isn’t ready to forgo design for a category as aesthetically focused as beauty.

MOB Cake Liner

MOB Cake Liner

$18 MOB BEAUTY SHOP NOW “Check out MOB Beauty, a new DTC brand founded by my Pact Collective co-founder (and part of the original MAC team), Victor Casale,” Davis suggests. “Their packaging is simple and beautiful, sustainable and refillable—and made by our other founding member of Pact, Element Packaging.” The compacts are reusable and created with post consumer recycled PET, which the brand notes is the most easily recyclable resin.

Meow Meow Tweet Baking Soda Free Grapefruit Deodorant Cream

Meow Meow Tweet Deodorant Cream

$14 MEOW MEOW TWEET SHOP NOW “If a brand was already packaging a product in a glass jar, something which can actually be reused, in some cases we’re taking this packaging type and reusing it instead of recycling them,” says Crawford. “Meow Meow Tweet, for example, has some of their deodorant creams in little glass jars that are professionally cleaned and then ready for reuse rather than being sent to recycling when you buy them through the LOOP by Ulta platform.”

Mab & Stoke Daily Defense Face Oil

Mab & Stoke Daily Defense Face Oil

$72 MAB & STOKE SHOP NOW Made with wild harvested ingredients, Mab & Stoke’s team works alongside United Plant Savers on their mission to conserve and restore medicinal plants and habitats. All packaging is compostable, reusable or recyclable, and a tree is planted with every order in partnership with American Forests.

The Handmade Soap Company ANAM Refill

The Handmade Soap Company Anam Wash Refill

$18 THE HANDMADE SOAP COMPANY SHOP NOW While the full version features a luxury glass, zero-plastic, refillable bottle, this refill wash comes in what the brand describes as “the world’s first compostable refill” designed to biodegrade in six weeks with industrial composting.

Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum

Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum

$34 MAD HIPPIE SHOP NOW “We were very excited to have Mad Hippie,” says Crawford of partnering with the beauty brand to better utilize their glass packaging. While vitamin C has become an industry-favorite ingredient across the board, their indie formula is a best-seller (and award-winner).

Saalt Cup

Saalt Menstrual Cup

$29 SAALT SHOP NOW Saalt shares that the average person using disposable products uses approximately 16,900 tampons in their lifetime, when a single menstrual cup can last up to ten years. Since launching in February 2018, the brand has diverted almost three million period waste products from landfills, plus contributed funds for over 11,000 pounds of cleanup. Now teaming up with rePurpose Global, they’re slated to be the first period care brand to certify as Plastic Negative (a step beyond neutral) by pledging to remove twice as much waste from the environment as is generated in their supply chain by funding the cleanup of low-value plastic waste. Plus, those funds support recycling programs for impoverished communities affected by plastic waste and provide higher-paying jobs for waste workers.

Salwa Petersen Chébé du Tchad Hair Cream

Salwa Peterson Chébé Du Tchad Hair Cream

$66 SALWA SHOP NOW Salwa Peterson shares that 100% of electricity used to produce her products is green, 100% of the water is “cleaned and returned to nature,” 100% of vegetable trash is composted, 100% of packaging is recyclable, and 100% of paper is FSC certified. The women who respectfully harvest the organic Chébé seeds in the line’s hair cream are paid three times the local salary, and 2% of proceeds go to African Parks Network, which manages 20 National Parks across the continent for a partnership that’s helped them, technically, reach carbon-negative status.

Susteau Moondust Duo

Susteau Moondust Duo

$55 SUSTEAU SHOP NOW Thanks to super concentrated formulas, one bottle of powdered hair wash is the equivalent of four liquid-based formulas. The brand notes that removing the emulsification process during manufacturing alone eliminates over 90% of the energy in the product life cycle of traditional liquid shampoo and conditioner. Formulations are biodegradable, and bottles are made with over 95% ocean-bound, recycled plastic, and can be recycled curbside.

Susanne Kaufmann Cleansing Gel Refill Pouch

Susanne Kaufmann Cleansing Gel Refill

$82 SUSANNE KAUFMANN SHOP NOW While Susanne Kaufmann’s glass bottles fall into the industry’s aforementioned “counter-worthy” category, the refill system cuts carbon emissions by 69%. Designed with 75% post-consumer material, refill bags can be recycled after use.

AYOND Metamorph Cleansing Balm

Ayond Metamorph Cleansing Balm

$80 AYOND SHOP NOW With a 100% post-consumer paper-wrapped box and compostable cellophane, Ayond’s dreamy natural formulas are delivered consciously, though the brand takes it a step further with a recycling program. Save the original box, then gather caps, pumps and droppers, request a shipping label, and they’ll take it from there.

AmaSea SeaTea Bath Bags

Ama SeaTea Bath Bags

$45 AMA SEA BEAUTY SHOP NOW AmaSea Beauty’s line depends on the ocean, and supports restorative ocean farming and coastal conservation. Founder Antoinette Marquez is an ocean conservationist working to protect a kelp forest off the coast of Santa Barbara, and practices ocean stewardship with PharmaSea to maintain and restore coastal marine habitats.

Dieux Forever Eye Mask

Dieux Forever Eye Mask

$25 DIEUX SHOP NOW Disposable masks are no longer an acceptable form of self-care to many in the industry (including Credo, who will ban them as of this June). Dieux, instead, offers a 100% medical-grade silicone alternative that can be used daily without adding to the waste cycle.

Youthforia BYO Blush

Youthforia Byo Blush

$36 YOUTHFORIA SHOP NOW A plant-based, color-changing blush oil that reacts to your skin’s natural pH, Youthforia’s formulas are USDA BioPreferred (meaning they’re made with fewer fossil fuels than traditional formulas for a smaller carbon footprint) and recyclable through Terracycle.

Superzero Men’s Allover Shampoo & Body Bar

Superzero Men's Allover Shampoo and Body Bar

$18 SUPERZERO SHOP NOW Certified free of all microplastics and technically zero-waste, Superzero’s waterless formulas also use compostable bio-wrappers made from beer industry leftovers and make an effort to upcycle food waste like blueberry seed oil (from the juicing industry) in their hand balm bars.

Thrive Natural Care BodyShield Mineral SPF 50

Thrive Natural Care BodyShield Mineral SPF 50

$19 THRIVE NATURAL CARE SHOP NOW Using proprietary native plants to support biodiversity and improve soil on their regenerative farms in Costa Rica is step one for Thrive Natural Care, which also packages its products in plants like this tube, made from sustainably sourced sugarcane from Brazil. BodyShield 50 features medicinal plant oil with anti-inflammatory skin benefits, and the brand was awarded an Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grant for its mineral SPF formula and their regenerative business model.

Elate Beauty Unify Loose Powder

Elate Beauty Unify Glow Powder

$36 ELATE BEAUTY SHOP NOW Housed in a refillable, compostable bamboo jar, Elate Beauty’s sheer illuminating powder is made with ethically-sourced mica, argan microzest and kaolin clay.

Hey Humans Body Wash Rosewater Ginger

Hey Humans Body Wash Rosewater Ginger

$6 HEY HUMANS SHOP NOW A project of Jada Pinkett Smith (who acts as the face of the brand, its creative director, and its co-founder), Hey Humans products are packaged in “infinitely recyclable” aluminum and paper. The clean formulas are also naturally-derived and designed to be gender-neutral.

Hello Products Antiplaque + Whitening Toothpaste Tablets

Hello Antiplaque + Whitening Toothpaste Tablets

$9 HELLO SHOP NOW With free-range mint sourced sustainably from 4th-generation farmers in Oregon, Hello offers another addition to the waterless category of the future. Their toothpaste tablets shake around in a recyclable, reusable tin jar that requires less energy and carbon emissions for shipping and storage.

Vapour Beauty Lip Nectar

Vapour Beauty Lip Nectar

$28 VAPOUR BEAUTY SHOP NOW The Taos-based brand runs on 100% renewable solar energy, and recognizes water as a precious resource, making 97% of their clean line waterless, or “anhydrous” as they say. Products are housed in FSC Certified paper and recyclable through Terracycle.

Noice Dental Gel Refill

NOICE Dental Gel Refill

$9 NOICE SHOP NOW “We are working with a brand called Noice Care for oral care, which historically has been a very very challenging product to recycle,” says Crawford. “We’re also really excited to see some category disruption with them.” The fluoride-free formula is officially listed as “the world’s first refillable toothpaste gel.”

Everist Waterless Haircare Concentrates Kit

Everist Waterless Haircare Concentrates Starter Kit

$46 EVERIST SHOP NOW Made out of 99.7% pure aluminum, the tubes used for Everist products are single-use plastic free and recyclable. The super-concentrated formulas rely on biodegradable ingredients, and the line’s small carbon footprint is offset to be neutral.

Cleo + Coco Zero-Waste Deodorant Bar in Brave Heart (Basil Mint)

Cleo + Coco Zero-Waste Deodorant Bar in Brave Heart

$14 CLEO + COCO SHOP NOW Cleo + Coco’s zero-waste deodorant bar (which includes charcoal without triggering a detox process) arrives in biodegradable FSC certified packaging, wrapped in compostable paper. It comes with a reusable storage bag, and the bottom consists of a wax mold (for gripping) that can be recycled, reused, or absorbed safely back into the earth.

Pacifica Vegan Collagen Recovery Eye Cream

Pacifica Vegan Collagen Recovery Eye Cream

$16 PACIFICA SHOP NOW Thanks to lab-grown, plant-sourced collagen, no animal byproducts are included in Pacifica's Vegan Collagen Recovery Eye Cream. The brand notes that lab-grown ingredients use less water, less land, and fewer resources to create, and the glass packaging can be recycled curbside.

EcoTools BioBlender

EcoTools Bioblender

$6 ECO TOOLS SHOP NOW EcoTools makes their blender with biodegradable foam, and uses packaging that achieves an 88% plastic reduction (the equivalent of nearly 14 million plastic bags, or close to 6 million plastic water bottles). Any paper is FSC Certified and printed with soy ink.

Ace of Air Halo Moisturizer

Ulta Beauty teamed up with Loop to create a one-stop online shop for sustainable, cruelty-free, and vegan products. BY CHARLOTTE POINTING | MARCH 11TH, 2021   Ulta Beauty’s packaging just got more sustainable, thanks to a new partnership. The popular U.S. beauty chain has teamed up with Loop, a zero-waste venture owned by TerraCycle, a global leader in recycling. Together, the two companies have created Loop by Ulta, a one-stop online shop for all things sustainable beauty, stocking a range of cruelty-free and vegan-friendly brands, including Burt’s Bees, Soapply, Ecco Bella, and Meow Meow Tweet. Customers place their orders through the website and the products are delivered to their door, all very standard procedure. But here’s where things change: Instead of using the product and throwing it away when they’re finished, customers pop the empty bottles into a reusable “exclusively designed” Loop tote bag. They then make arrangements through the Ulta by Loop website to have their old empties picked up; these are subsequently cleaned, refilled, and placed back onto the virtual shelves for sale. Tom Szaky, the founder and CEO of Loop and TerraCycle, said in a statement sent to LIVEKINDLY: “Consumers are increasingly asking for more environmentally responsible options in this category and this collaboration provides them with a solution that is simple and convenient.” Ulta is trying to bring forward “innovative solutions” to the beauty industry’s waste problem. | @shoploopstore

A Sustainable Beauty Loop

Loop by Ulta’s approach creates a circular economy instead of the standard linear one (where products are bought, used, and then thrown away). A circular economy keeps resources in a loop (get it?), which reduces waste in a big way. Across industries, waste is an urgent problem, and the beauty industry is no exception. Globally, more than 120 billion units of cosmetic packaging are produced annually, and much of this ends up in landfills and the ocean. Dave Kimbell, the president of Ulta Beauty, says that “as the nation’s leading beauty retailer,” the company has a responsibility to bring forward “innovative solutions.” He said: “As we work to deliver more informed, conscious product choices to our guests, this first-of-its-kind partnership with the pioneers at Loop is an exciting step on our journey.” “We look forward to seeing our guests embrace Loop by Ulta Beauty as we all work together to create a lasting legacy for our world.” Shop Loop by Ulta’s sustainable product range here.

Maybelline Makeup Recycling Scheme

Maybelline has recently teamed up with Terracycle to enable consumers to help fight plastic waste by recycling their used makeup.  The programme launched in over 1000 stores across the UK, and one of the closest collection boxes is inside Superdrug on Oxford Street. You can also check the location of other Manchester collection points using their interactive map.