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.

VetPartners has launched a major environmental project at 130 of its largest sites by trialling zero-waste boxes for used PPE. The boxes are provided by TerraCycle – a company that specialises in hard-to-recycle waste including PPE masks, gloves and aprons worn by clinical team members when treating patients. All PPE not contaminated with animal or pharmaceutical waste can be recycled as part of the scheme, and is collected and quarantined for 72 hours to ensure it is safe.

VetPartners is trialling zero waste boxes for PPE at 130 of its largest sites across the UK. The boxes are provided by TerraCycle, a company specialising in hard-to-recycle waste, and all types of PPE, including masks, gloves and aprons worn by clinical team members when treating patients, can be disposed of in the boxes as long as they are not contaminated with animal, pharmaceutical or liquid waste.

Illycaffè has partnered with TerraCycle in a project that will facilitate the collection and recycling of its plastic and aluminium Iperespresso coffee capsules in Europe. The scheme has initially launched in the UK, France, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands and Belgium, where consumers can either post used capsules to TerraCyle or have them collected from home. According to the company, coffee capsules are notorious for their poor environmental credentials and are rarely collected by local councils as the plastic packaging is made up of multiple complex materials that are costly to separate and recycle.

With the international spread of Covid-19, the global use of face masks or personal protective equipment (PPE) seems set to continue to increase. But keeping ourselves safe should not be at the cost of the planet. Organizations are developing new solutions to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Waste management company TerraCycle has Zero Waste Boxes to collect and recycle PPE, face masks and disposable gloves, explained Julia Chevalier, PR Manager at TerraCycle Europe.

P&G Beauty strikes a major blow to plastic waste with its new refill system including a reusable aluminium shampoo bottle and recyclable¹ pouch that uses 60% less plastic²

Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, works with every major cosmetic company in the world, helping them to be more sustainable. He says this is the first time he has seen a large company with mainstream brands create a refillable bottle at scale, out of an alloy. “From a supply chain point of view, this is a big undertaking. Hopefully, it will inspire other organisations to do the same and create a movement where we start buying more of our shampoos in reusable systems versus single use systems.”

The consumer goods giant unveiled images of the new format for the first time today (22 October). Customers will be encouraged to purchase a reusable aluminium bottle, which they can refill from new pouches. The pouches consist of a flexible plastic packet with a rigid plastic neck.

Zero waste products might be the future of clean beauty but they have yet to reach the mainstream. The lack of accessibility and convenience when purchasing zero waste items means that it is significantly easier to just buy non-recyclable products.

These unprecedented COVID-19 times have underscored that single use materials are still a highly reliable and affordable solution for personal protection. Although this new reality has highlighted the public necessity for these items, it has also brought into stark contrast our vulnerabilities to pollution. Between the end of February and mid-April this year, more than a billion items of personal protective equipment were given out in the UK alone. This spike in consumption is forcing us to rethink our attitude to recycling and find a sustainable solution for this kind of waste, which would otherwise end up in landfill or often simply be littered on the streets. As the leading experts in traditionally “non-recyclable” waste, TerraCycle provides a unique recycling solution for all types of single-use PPE, which aren’t recyclable through conventional recycling facilities, giving them a new life in a variety of forms.

McDonald's is making strides toward providing zero-waste solutions for its disposable food and beverage packaging. Their latest change to the way they serve their beverages brings them one step closer to the goal of sourcing all of their packaging from renewable, recycled, or certified sources at all restaurant locations by 2025. The chain announced on Wednesday that they will start testing a reusable cup next year in select locations in the United Kingdom. In a partnership with recycling company TerraCycle, based in the U.S., McDonald's will provide its customers the option of choosing a durable, reusable cup for a small deposit. Once the cup is returned to a McDonald's location, it will be washed and reused, and customers will be able to redeem their deposit. Or, they can simply keep reusing their McDonald's cup themselves. This is great news for anyone concerned with the devastating impact of wasteful single-use packaging on the environment. The chain is already operating a similar program in other countries like Germany. In the U.S., while no such efforts have yet been announced, the company is involved in an open innovation initiative  NextGen Cup, a global design competition calling for best new ideas on how to create an easily scaleable and commercialized solution to the single-use cup.