The move is part of the personal care brand’s new 2030 sustainability goals

Data shows American shoppers are buying more sustainable products.Love Beauty and Planet, Unilever BY PAUL HIEBERT As its name implies, personal care brand Love Beauty and Planet was designed with sustainability in mind. Today, the Unilever-owned company, which debuted in 2018, is announcing plans to continue its eco-friendly efforts with new pledges to become carbon-neutral and transition to 100% recyclable, refillable or compostable packaging across its product portfolio by 2030. To help fulfill the latter goal, Love Beauty and Planet began selling reusable aluminum shampoo and conditioner containers at Target earlier this year. The items come in two varieties: Coconut Water & Mimosa Flower and Murumuru Butter & Rose. By purchasing the brand’s recyclable 32-ounce bottles filled with product and pouring them into the aluminum containers, shoppers can reduce plastic waste by about 40% compared to buying Love Beauty and Planet’s standard 13.5-ounce bottles. Love Beauty and Planet

The rise of reuse

The move toward reusable containers is gaining momentum in the CPG industry. Ecommerce platform Grove Collaborative, which began selling goods in Target this month, offers its own line of cleaning products in a concentrated formula that customers pour into glass bottles and mix with water. Likewise, the startup Cleancult provides cleaning solution in milk cartons, along with glass soap dispensers and spray bottles. Last December, recycling company TerraCycle raised $25 million for its Loop initiative, a program that allows people to order household goods from nut butter to laundry detergent in durable containers and then send them back to be cleaned, refilled and reused. Love Beauty and Planet offers a few products through the Loop platform. More recently, Unilever invested $15 million in Closed Loop Partners, an investment firm focused on establishing circular supply chains, to help recycle around 60,000 metric tons of U.S. plastic packaging waste each year by 2025. “We believe plastics’ place is inside the circular economy where it is reused and not in the environment,” Fabian Garcia, president of Unilever North America, said in a statement.

Asking consumers to change

Getting shoppers to adapt to new routines, however, is another question. While 57% of U.S. adults show concern for the planet, only about one-third of these shoppers say they try to avoid using single-use disposable items, according to market research firm Mintel. “Even those who are considered environmentally-conscious face challenges to living a fully-sustainable lifestyle, which includes lack of knowledge, confusion created by marketing and lack of trust in brands,” Lisa Dubina, senior analyst of consumer culture and identity at Mintel, said in a statement. “Brands have the opportunity to step in and facilitate more sustainable action by offering simple and convenient solutions.” Sonika Malhotra, co-founder and global brand director at Love Beauty and Planet, noted that although transferring liquid from one bottle to another isn’t a common habit for most consumers of household staples, people are beginning to open up to it. “If anything, we need a million imperfect environmentalists [more] than a few perfect ones,” Malhotra said. Evidence suggests shoppers are moving in this general direction. Recent research from New York University’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business shows sales of household products labeled as sustainable stole almost another percentage point of market share from their conventional counterparts last year. Consumer goods with sustainable claims now account for 16.8% of all in-store purchases—a number that represents more than $131 billion.

    This story is part of Glossy’s Earth Week series, which spotlights sustainability efforts and topics across the beauty and fashion industries. You can read some of our other coverage here and here. When it comes to sustainability, retailers are trying to move into the spotlight. In early March, Ulta Beauty announced a partnership and dedicated website with Loop, allowing customers to shop specific brands and products on LoopByUlta.com and send back their empty packages. In 2020, with the launch of its Conscious Beauty program, Ulta Beauty also committed that all packaging sold from all brands will need to be made from 50% post-consumer recycled or bio-sourced materials, or recyclable or refillable by 2025. Ulta Beauty sells over 600 brands, including Chanel, Covergirl and Ouai hair care. Also in 2020, Credo committed that it would eliminate single-use masks and wipes and that its brand partners would be required to use 50% PCR plastic or other sustainable materials by June 2023. “It is our responsibility to ensure that Ulta Beauty is continuously meeting those expectations. And we’re using Conscious Beauty as a way to showcase that and influence our partners,” said Monica Arnaudo, Ulta Beauty chief merchandising officer. “Retailers have a lot of influence in this area. We want to ensure that we’re meeting the customer’s needs, so our influence extends to our brand partners and manufacturers.” Though some retailers like Ulta and Credo are pushing their brand partners to adopt more sustainable solutions and packaging, it is not common across the board. Though retailers have traditionally often had the upper hand in the brand-retailer relationship, retailers are for the most part looking at their own products and operations before proposing changes to third-party brand partners. There are potential reasons for this, ranging from dodging accusations of performative greenwashing to preventing cries of hypocrisy from brands. But it is likely more about the general lack of options available to brands. Despite strides in sustainable packaging, there is no perfect solution and few alternatives that do not materially impact a brand’s packaging design, branding and bottom line. For example, Sephora’s 2019 goals and progress on sustainability predominantly focus on the retailer’s stores, distribution centers and corporate offices. The retailer is part of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and notes that it “encourages” brands to “embrace efficient [packaging] design” but doesn’t make it a requirement. Since late 2019, Sephora has piloted an in-store recycling program in Utah and Colorado. Customers who bring back three containers from any brand receive a 15% discount on Sephora Collection products. A Sephora spokesperson said there had been no changes or expansions to the pilot as of 2021. Additionally, Walgreen Boots Alliance only references its own private label brands and products, including beauty brands No.7 and Soap & Glory in a section dedicated to sustainable packaging. On Monday, Walgreen Boots Alliance repackaged its six beauty brands, including No.7, and Soap & Glory, into a new umbrella called the No.7 Beauty Company to drive digital marketing effectiveness and expansion. CVS’s sustainability strategy around products is mostly focused on its own private-label brands, too, said Joanne Dwyer, CVS vp of CSR and sustainability. This includes discontinuing the sale of single-use plastic straws, all plastic cutleries, and all Styrofoam cups, plates and bowls. CVS will stop shipping these items to stores by June of 2021. It will instead introduce alternative options such as paper straws and bamboo plates but will continue to sell national brands like Solo. The national retailer is undertaking an audit of its CVS-owned brand packaging to understand what is and is not recyclable, as well as what is recyclable but difficult to do. It will complete this audit in June 2021. The plan is to develop a set of recycling standards and guidelines for its brands that are printed on the label; CVS is currently rolling them out in a phased approach and plans to include them in its CSR report in 2022. “We don’t want to make a sustainable choice or a better-for-you choice that is difficult to make. From an access and cost standpoint, we would like to democratize sustainability,” said Dwyer. There are some brand sustainability partnerships that CVS has engaged with since 2020. CVS works with TerraCycle and brands like Gillette and Colgate twice a year to promote a takeback campaign. Customers can sign up online and ship their products directly to TerraCycle. CVS and TerraCycle then turn the waste received into materials used for playgrounds and rock walls; the playgrounds or rock walls are then built in locations where the highest volume of participation occurs. The Detox Market and Follain previously added TerraCycle bottle collection boxes in-store back in 2019. On Thursday, Credo debuted in all of its 10 stores a new in-store recycling program called Pact to collect hard-to-recycle packaging. “When something is difficult to recycle, we want to [experiment to] see if people will send back products if we provide the mechanism for them to do so,” said Dwyer. “It’s important for us to engage our suppliers and our industry peers. Many of the sustainability challenges that have emerged are industry [created]; we need to work as an industry to solve.”

Participating in the circular economy, in which businesses reuse materials, could help you reduce waste and attract customers.

BY ANNA MEYER@ANNAVMEYER     If your business isn't participating in the circular economy, you may want to spend part of Earth Day on Thursday asking yourself, "Why not?" While many companies follow a linear economy in which products are created, used, and thrown away, companies that participate in the circular economy continuously recycle and reuse their materials. It's designed to make doing business and combating climate change mutually beneficial. For many businesses, getting existing customers to remain loyal to their brand could require switching to a circular model. A 2020 study from IBM and the National Retail Federation found that 57 percent of U.S consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to help reduce negative environmental impact. "Companies can't afford to not put the planet first," says Mera McGrew, founder of the soap company Soapply. "Companies that are not aligning with consumers' values will be left behind." Founded in 2015, Soapply bottles soap in recycled glass that can be refilled, reused, and recycled. The New York City-based company participates in the Loop program alongside brands like Gillette, Tide, and Clorox. Created by the recycling company TerraCycle, the program helps companies sell their products in reusable containers that are managed and cleaned by TerraCycle. Customers pay a refundable deposit for the reusable packaging.     Soapply.COURTESY COMPANY Many business owners think participating in the circular economy means more expenses, but doing so can actually save businesses money by reusing materials, says Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, an investment firm in New York City. "Right now, many companies are only selling something once that they could be selling multiple times," Daly says. During the past three years, the Center for the Circular Economy has hosted competitions funded by brands including Starbucks, Walmart, and McDonald's to design sustainable alternatives to paper to-go cups and single-use plastic bags, with winners receiving funding and access to the center's accelerator program. Switching to a circular model also has benefits for hiring. Nearly 80 percent of respondents to a 2019 Glassdoor survey indicated that they would consider a business's mission when thinking about whether to apply for a job. When implementing sustainability initiatives, Daly advises auditing any plans from a user experience perspective to make sure that your solutions are convenient and accessible. You should also consider publishing a public sustainability report, as the Berlin, Germany-based meal delivery company HelloFresh did with its 2020 sustainability report. Included in the initiatives published in the report are goals to lower the company's carbon emissions by 60 percent per euro of revenue and to reduce food waste at its facilities by 50 percent per euro of revenue between 2019 and 2022. It also cited clear steps it's taking to use sustainable packaging. While it's important for companies to invest in sustainable practices, particularly when customers demand them, not all environmentally friendly initiatives are going to be a boon for business. "There's no point in creating a product or service, however 'green,' that customers don't adopt," Daly says, adding that business owners should reach out to other companies in their industry that have already made transitions to a circular economy. "I would encourage companies, regardless of their size, to not feel like they have to go it alone," Daly says. "Collaborating with stakeholders, whether it's in policy or consumer education, is really important so that a transition to circularity feels accessible no matter what."

From changing how products are shipped to what containers they're sold in and the product packaging itself, here's how retailers are tackling a myriad of issues. Cara Salpini   Permission granted by Loop As retail, a fundamentally environmentally unfriendly industry, works to become more green, it faces challenges at every turn. Those include that products must be packaged somehow, and then if a consumer buys online, those packaged goods must be placed in another package to safeguard them through whatever shipping route they're on. But as more consumers demand sustainability from the brands they buy from, startups are launching to solve common challenges and retailers are reinventing aspects of their operations to better account for their impact on the environment. Not all are tackling sustainability to the same degree, though, or with the same amount of success. Some companies are "just riding the bandwagon on sustainability and saying, 'Okay, we're doing this, we're doing XYZ,' but not necessarily tying that to what the impact means, and what kind of results that action will yield," Jessica Ching, senior principal analyst at Gartner, said. Brands that have more serious commitments to sustainability spell out the impact of their actions, Ching said, like the amount of carbon emissions it takes to make a product or how many were saved from a different type of production, for example. Rather than simply announcing commitments, dedicated brands also educate consumers about those commitments and what they really mean, rather than leaving it up to consumers to do the hard work themselves. When it comes to shipping, for example, some brands offer incentives for slower delivery, according to Ching, though communicating with customers on the impact of their shipping and packaging choices is still not widely done. "I think it's a clear opportunity there for brands and retailers to lean on. We haven't seen it as much yet," Ching said. She noted grocery delivery service Ocado is an example of a company playing around with this, as consumers can select "greener" delivery slots when they're in the checkout process. Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of Terracycle and Loop, is coming at the problem from a different angle. Loop, which makes refillable packaging for products, sends consumers their orders in reusable shipping containers and schedules pick-up times based on factors like when a consumer is scheduled to get another shipment, rather than making an extra trip. The company is also setting up a network of retail partners that use its refillable packaging so that consumers can return their empty containers themselves to any retailer in Loop's system. Looking long-term, Szaky thinks retailers' focus with packaging will be on increasing the recyclability of packages, more advancement on reuse (like what Loop is doing) and how to sell products with no packaging at all. But whatever advancements come, the challenge will be making sustainable choices as convenient as a consumer's current product choices. "Whatever innovations come, they have to compete head-to-head with the convenience of disposability," Szaky said. "And the closer they feel to the convenience of disposability, or in an ideal world even better, that's going to be the winner. I would predict that in reuse, you're not going to see a mega scale up of refill stations because of the sheer cost and complexity of doing filling at a store level. Now some products, it will work, like dry cashews or gummy bears or ground coffee and whole bean coffee, but I don't think it's going to necessarily get significantly broader than that. Because how would you do insect repellent in a refill station or ice cream in a refill station or things of that nature?" That's the reason Loop's model relies on the company being responsible for cleaning empty bottles and putting them back into circulation, rather than the consumer doing that work. In Szaky's view, taking the work out of it will get more consumers to make the sustainable choice. There are tons of ways retailers are experimenting with more environmentally friendly packaging and shipping choices, but here are a few recent ones Retail Dive is watching.

1. Olive's attempts to consolidate e-commerce deliveries

Olive, launched earlier this year by Jet co-founder Nate Faust, is tackling sustainable shipping by consolidating consumers' e-commerce deliveries from multiple brands into one to cut down on single-use boxes. The company boasts hundreds of e-commerce sites for retailers to purchase from, including Adidas, Free People and Saks Fifth Avenue, among others. The company also handles returns, and retailers can schedule a pickup of either their empty, reusable shipping container or their returns. Olive and Loop are both third-party companies trying to solve shipping problems by partnering with retailers, but some individual brands and retailers are also making strides on their own platforms. "I think it's incumbent on brands and retailers to really make sure that they can do what they can," Ching said. "We have also seen a lot of brands give the option at checkout for consumers to opt into eco-friendly packaging, or taking kind of a multifunctional approach to packaging." Ching cited Ralph Lauren as one company that allows customers to check a box to receive eco-friendly packaging, for example. Apparel retailers, in particular, can also do their part through pre-order, rental and resale models, Ching noted, so that they cut down on creating excess products altogether and have a second life for them when they do.

2. Ulta's partnership with Loop on refillable packaging

Ulta's partnership with Loop is part of broader efforts on sustainability at the retailer Permission granted by Loop   In addition to several other retail partnerships, Loop in March officially launched at Ulta Beauty, marking the "first-ever circular beauty platform," according to a release on the partnership. For Ulta, the Loop partnership was one of several recently announced moves to tackle sustainability. While Ulta is not the only company Loop has partnered with, beauty is an especially interesting category to Szaky for several reasons. He noted there are more beauty products that can't be recycled than food or beverage products, and there's a higher range of complexity involved in the packaging of beauty products. But it also meets several other criteria Loop looks at when deciding which areas to focus on. "One is how quickly does the object become waste from the moment you purchase it? So a coffee cup is quick, while a Swiss watch will be very slow, right?" Szaky said, adding that "how often an item is purchased is actually not that important. The second is how much design improvement opportunity is there: so if you move a shampoo bottle, like a plastic bottle, into a reusable one, there's actually a massive, massive opportunity for design improvement." The third factor is if there are stakeholders involved that care about the category. Those factors have helped define Loop's priorities, which include fast-moving consumer goods (packaged food, beverages, home care and personal care), takeaway food packaging and then textiles ("everything from reusable diapers to baby clothing"). The Ulta partnership is starting small, but plans are to expand it over time. At the moment, consumers can only use Loop's online experience, which means Loop has to come pick up used containers from consumers, but Szaky says the in-store experience should be running by the end of the year or early next. Then, consumers can bring back empty containers and drop them off at a bin in the front of the store or at any other of Loop's retail partners whenever they come back to shop. Spreading out to more retailers also lessens the transportation load, leading to fewer carbon emissions. "The way we're solving that is trying to again make Loop for absolutely everything so that you can get high density of products in one geography," Szaky said. "So instead, if we only did it for shampoo, you would have a very spread out network. But if we're doing it for everything from hamburgers and french fries, all the way to soda to shampoo to personal care products, then you get much bigger density and have more cleaning facilities and less transportation distance." Szaky's other company, TerraCycle, which focuses on recycling, is also expanding its presence through partnerships with the likes of sandal brand Teva and department store Nordstrom. The company's partnership with Nordstrom is also focused on beauty; it allows customers to recycle beauty packaging at Nordstrom stores.

3. Cocokind's debut of 'Sustainability Facts' on beauty products

Carbon emissions will be displayed directly on the packaging of Cocokind's products Permission granted by Cocokind   Beauty brand Cocokind announced in March that it would start putting "Sustainability Facts" on the packaging of its products to make the carbon impact of products clearer. The company already uses materials like sugarcane tubes and ocean waste plastic in its packaging, and includes detailed recycling instructions with products, according to Cocokind founder Priscilla Tsai. To produce the sustainability facts, the company uses a third-party research firm that evaluates the carbon footprint of every product, from pre-production to end-of-life. The life cycle assessment takes into account pre-manufacturing, including the production of raw materials and transportation of materials to the manufacturer; production, including any waste; distribution, including freight and materials used to transport products; and end-of-life, which includes the energy to recycle, reuse or dispose of a product. The total carbon emissions are listed on the packaging, though Tsai says the company does not expect consumers to exactly know the difference between different amounts of emissions. "We set out to educate our customers and beauty consumers in general on this topic," Tsai said via email. "It should not be on the consumer to figure all of this out because it can be so confusing and daunting. When it comes to carbon emissions we are even learning more ourselves and hope that our work will make a difference in how the consumer understands carbon emissions." Cocokind is also trying to educate customers on what its sustainability efforts mean Permission granted by Cocokind Cocokind is simultaneously attempting to educate its consumers on what these changes mean via blog and social media posts on the initiative and plans to share more learnings as the company continues to learn itself. Tsai added that this packaging shift is part of just the first phase of Cocokind's approach to carbon emissions, which is focused on researching and measuring the company's current impact. In the future, the company will move to offset emissions and create tangible action steps annually to reduce emissions. "While the beauty industry has made so many improvements over the past few years, we noticed that there also seems to be an increasing confusion on what is real progress and what is just an empty claim," Tsai said. "Every beauty brand, including cocokind, has been guilty of using buzz words like 'clean' and 'sustainable' without doing the work."

4. Beyond the Bag's efforts to replace single-use plastic

In July 2020, The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag was formed, with CVS, Target and Walmart making up the founding partners. The retailers' goal is to reinvent the plastic bag through a three-year program, dubbed Beyond the Bag, that identifies alternatives through a contest, and works to scale them. The three founding companies put $15 million into the initiative collectively and have since been joined by a host of other big names in retail, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar General, TJX and Walgreens. In February, the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners announced nine winners of the challenge, out of 450 ideas submitted: ChicoBag, Domtar, Eon, Fill it Forward, Goatote, PlasticFri, Returnity, SmartC and Sway. The companies span a variety of solutions to single-use plastic bags, including reusable shipping bags and boxes, a kiosk system that allows customers to access clean reusable bags on-site, a borrowing service for reusable bags, and various material innovations, including making plastic bag alternatives out of seaweed. Each of the nine companies will receive "a portion of $1 million," including possible additional financing as they work to pilot and scale their solutions. The retailers in the consortium will spend 2021 helping the winners with prototyping, mentoring and moving toward in-store pilots. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution to tackle a problem as complex as our reliance on single-use plastic bags," Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, said in a statement. "The diversity of our winners underscores how businesses and consumers alike need to employ a range of solutions to fit different geographic, social and economic contexts."

5. Schick's fully recyclable razorSchick in March announced the Schick Xtreme 3 Eco Glide, which it says is the first and only razor on the mass market to be fully recyclable, including the razor and the packaging. Natalya Utesheva, senior brand manager at Schick, said the process for creating the Eco Glide razor started about a year and a half ago.

Reaching the 100% recycled plastic mark was a challenge for Schick Permission granted by Schick "Disposable razors are made from plastic, which by definition means that a lot of plastic ends up getting thrown away," Utesheva said, "so we were just so excited to innovate and to bring something to the consumer that is still an amazing shave from a quality perspective — it has flexible blades, it's got really amazing glide — but without the guilt for the environment because it's made from 100% recycled plastic." To realize the dream, Schick had to work with suppliers to find recycled plastic durable enough to mold into the right shape for a handle, according to Utesheva. It's "extremely challenging" to reach the 100% post-consumer recycled plastic mark, Utesheva said. "It's much easier, from what I understand from our supply chain partners, to have a mixture. So like, 60% to 80% of the plastic is made from recycled materials and then the rest is virgin plastic because the virgin, of course, is stronger. But the 100% is no small feat to achieve, which is why we're so proud of it." In addition to the fully recyclable Eco Glide, every Schick Xtreme razor now has a handle made at least in part with post-consumer recycled plastic, Utesheva said, with the company planning to increase the percentage of post-consumer recycled plastic over the years. The fully recyclable Eco Glide costs a little more than its regular razors, but about half of Schick's customers are what Utesheva calls "eco-considerers," which means they are willing to compromise a little bit or pay a little more to have sustainability baked into the product. The other half, however, are "eco-dismissers," who aren't willing to sacrifice convenience in any way, no matter the environmental impact. Parent company Edgewell is looking for other ways to solve for packaging as well, including launching an Edgewell Recycling program earlier this year, which gives customers a shipping label and allows them to recycle products for free.

There’s a lot to unpack

by Katherine Lalancette   When you look into how recycling management works, it’s a little like finding out Santa Claus doesn’t exist. The illusion shatters and along with it your belief in everything you once thought good and pure in the world. In a way, the road to landfills is paved with good intentions. We Canadians, for example, are notorious for “wish-cycling,” throwing items in the blue bin in the hopes that someone, somewhere will be inspired to recycle them. It doesn’t work like that. Instead, the non-accepted items—chip bags, pizza boxes, toothpaste tubes—only increase the likelihood of actual recyclables getting rejected because the lot is deemed contaminated. To be fair, though, nearly everything is recyclable in theory—even cigarette butts and dirty diapers. But in terms of what actually gets recycled, it all comes down to economics. “Recyclers want things they can recycle at a profit,” says Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of Terracycle, a company that aims to recycle materials that usually aren’t. The things that generate profit tend to be large objects made from a single material. And if that’s plastic, it’s usually clear PET (polyethylene terephthalate or type 1 plastic) or white HDPE (high-density polyethylene or type 2). In other words, it’s everything most beauty packaging is not. Chances are a lot of your personal care products fit in your palm and will thus likely get missed by sorting machines and thrown in the trash Take a look at your medicine cabinet. Chances are a lot of your personal care products fit in your palm and will thus likely get missed by sorting machines and thrown in the trash (it’s why samples and minis have been called the beauty industry’s dark secret). They’re probably also made of mixed materials (a plastic, rubber and metal razor; a metal spring in a plastic pump) and, if plastic, neither clear nor white. That last part is important as coloured plastic has a smaller chance of being recycled because of its lower resale value. (The same goes for glass. If it’s amber or green, Szaky says it probably won’t get recycled.) That’s because you can’t take colour out, only add to it, which makes it less attractive to companies. “Think of kids mixing paint,” he says. “It always ends up brown and you can’t unbrown the brown.” In Canada, roughly 773 million plastic beauty or personal care containers end up in landfills every year In 2018, the U.S. alone produced 7.9 billion units of plastic for beauty and personal care products, according to Euromonitor International. If we transpose that to a Canadian scale—considering Canadians have similar purchasing habits—“we can estimate that Canada produces 909 million plastic packaging units in a year,” says Laura Yates, plastic campaigner for Greenpeace. Out of that, about 23 per cent is diverted for recycling by consumers, but then a third of that is lost in the sorting and recycling process. Bottom line: In Canada, roughly 773 million plastic beauty or personal care containers end up in landfills every year. So does that mean brands are lying when they emboss a three-arrow triangle on the bottom of, say, a dark travel-sized plastic bottle? No, not technically. That bottle really is recyclable. The issue is similar to consumers’ wish-cycling tendencies: We’re betting our salvation on a system that’s out to make money, not fix the world’s waste problem. We’re betting our salvation on a system that’s out to make money, not fix the world’s waste problem When Ericka Rodriguez first started her makeup line, Axiology, in Bend, Oregon, she chose to house her lipsticks in aluminium tubes. “We thought, ‘This is great because aluminium can be recycled over and over again,’” she says. But the part of the tube that held the bullet was made of plastic, which meant that in cities that didn’t accept mixed-material items (guidelines vary a lot from place to place), the whole tube was being discarded. “We felt like we were being dishonest because we were like, ‘It’s recyclable,’ and then some people would be like, ‘It’s not, though, because there’s also plastic.’” It’s not that those aluminium tubes can’t be recycled, it’s that separating the components isn’t considered “worth it.” It gets worse. For a while now, biodegradable plastics have been touted as the solution. You’ve probably used compostable cutlery from that place you got a grain bowl from once and thought, “Wow, this is the future” and went on crunching your quinoa with a clear conscience. The problem is: Composters don’t want compostable packaging. The biggest retailer in the U.K. banned compostable packaging from its shelves after it learned composters weren’t actually composting these biodegradable plastics, they were burning them A year ago, Tesco, the biggest retailer in the U.K., banned compostable packaging from its shelves. It did that after it learned composters weren’t actually composting these biodegradable plastics, they were burning them. “Everyone was shocked and asked, “Why? Isn’t it really compostable?”’ says Szaky. “They said, “It is, but it costs us more to process it and deal with it so why would we bother doing it? We’re not morally obligated to do it, we’re not legally obligated. We’re a for-profit business.” Before you go chucking your game of Monopoly in the trash (recycling bin? Who the hell knows anymore?), know that capitalism isn’t the only variable at play. Australia, as part of its first-ever National Plastics Plan, announced last month that it would be banning bioplastics as research has shown that, environmentally, it’s not much better than the conventional kind. “Biodegradable plastics promise a plastic that breaks down into natural components when it’s no longer needed for its original purpose,” explains Jackie Gilbert Bauer, head of product development for hair care brand Hairstory. “The idea that plastic literally disappears once in the ocean or littered on land or in landfills is nice, but it’s not actually possible. Nothing disappears completely.” That’s why Greenpeace does not currently recommend switching to other types of disposable packaging like bioplastics, paper or even 100 per cent recyclable packaging. “Although these often feel like an environmentally better choice than plastic, they are false solutions that risk aggravating current environmental crises, don’t question current disposable culture, and divert attention from the real solutions that should favour reuse,” says Yates. “You really can’t recycle your way out of the place we’re in today” Even Terracyle, a company built on recycling, acknowledges recycling isn’t the solution. “You really can’t recycle your way out of the place we’re in today,” says Annika Greve, director, business development for North America at Loop, a new Terracycle initiative launched in Ontario earlier this year. Don’t get her wrong, recycling is “necessary and critical,” she says. For example, Terracycle and Nordstrom just partnered on Beautycycle, a program aiming to recycle 100 tons of beauty packaging by 2025 (you can bring any beauty empty to a Nordstrom store to have it recycled). But still, she says, recycling is “a Band-Aid on the much larger issue.” That’s where Loop comes in. It sort of works like an old-school milkman, collecting reusable bottles, cleaning them up and then refilling them. Loop assists companies in transitioning to durable, refillable containers and teams up with retailers such as Loblaws in Canada, so that consumers can buy participating products and drop off empties in a convenient location. Examples of beauty partners in Canada include indie brands like Oneka and Meow Meow Tweet, as well as REN, the first premium beauty brand to sign up. Arnaud Meysselle, REN’s CEO, doesn’t sugar-coat it: Eliminating waste is hard. “There are a lot of hurdles to overcome,” he says of the brand’s pledge to become waste-free by end of year. “There’s a financial impact, which we swallowed—additional costs are not added to the end product—because we are the sinner, so why would we ask people to pay for our sins?” “It’s much easier for the big companies to make these moves. They have the volume. They could do whatever they want”   Unfortunately, not every brand is in a position to absorb the costs linked to greener packaging. “It’s really hard for indie brands, the smaller brands, because a lot of these things come with a 10 or 50 thousand minimum order,” says Sheri L. Koetting, founder of MSLK, an agency that guides beauty brands at all stages of development. “So, it’s much easier for the big companies to make these moves. They have the volume. They could do whatever they want.” Ericka Rodriguez ran into this exact problem when she was sourcing refillable lip crayon tubes. “The quotes we were getting to make these were astronomical,” she says. “The way it works is there’s only so many beauty manufacturers out there. They’re mostly in China and they all already work for the big beauty brands. Since these big beauty brands haven’t really invested in, for example, a refillable crayon tube, we’re having to do it and it can be out of reach.” Luckily, the shift is starting. Last year, P&G brands Pantene, Head & Shoulders and Herbal Essences announced they’d be launching refillable shampoos and conditioners. In January, Dove debuted a refillable deodorant. Unfortunately, these products aren’t available in Canada yet. You can, however, shop refills from L’Occitane, Tata Harper, Hairstory and Kiehl’s, to name just a few. “By using 1-litre refill pouches, customers use on average 80 per cent less plastic compared to the same amount of formula across four 250-ml bottles,” says Leonardo Chavez, global vice-president for Kiehl’s. “Less plastic,” as in most pouches are still made of plastic, which Koetting says can be viewed as “not that eco-friendly.” “But the amount of plastic that goes into that pouch is so much more minimal and doesn’t take a lot of energy to make,” she says. Because it’s lighter and can ship flat, its transport also generates fewer carbon emissions. We have a tendency to vilify materials, says Szaky, which has certainly been the case with plastic in recent years. “Plastics can do amazing things that nothing else can do. Our computers are made from plastic, our eyeglasses are made from plastic. It’s also how the materials are used that determines whether they’re benevolent or not.” Perhaps the most benevolent material is no material at all Perhaps the most benevolent material is no material at all. British brand Lush has been a leader in that space with its packageless haircare and skincare bars. Rodriguez also decided to take that route with her multi-purpose balms—she did away with the tubes and instead wrapped the bullets in recycled paper—when she couldn’t find a manufacturer that could provide a packaging solution she was comfortable with. As consumers, supporting brands that offer these kinds of package-free or refill products—or letting the ones that don’t know that we want better options—can make a world of difference. “The number 1 thing that will make industry change is purchasing habits—that speaks volumes,” Greve says. But the most effective purchasing habit of all? Buying way less. “The only answer is lowering consumption,” Szaky says matter of factly. And this is where the illusion shatters even further: “No matter how vegan or fair-trade that thing that you bought is, if you didn’t buy it, that land that had to farm it could have been a forest.” Like Santa, Szaky confirms, “there’s no such thing as good consumption.”

The way a product is packaged is important to reduce its carbon footprint. BY EMMA SEYMOUR, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING INSTITUTE AND BIRNUR ARAL, PH.D., GOOD HOUSEKEEPING INSTITUTE When seeking out sustainable products, you may only be thinking about the physical product itself — but how a product is packaged is just as important. Many forms of packaging cannot be recycled or reused and end up in landfills or the ocean. Even recyclable plastic packaging is often not enough, as 91% of plastics aren’t recycled, resulting in 25 million tons being dumped into the ocean each year. Nearly 30% of municipal solid waste is packaging and containers, contributing to a massive carbon footprint. Many products are packaged with too much material that can only be thrown in the trash, but "eco-friendly packaging" refers to alternatives to standard packaging that can easily be recycled, reused, or has other environmental benefits. The Good Housekeeping Institute launched our first-ever Sustainable Packaging Awards last year to draw attention to the environmental aspects of a product's packaging. Packaging is an important part of how a product is protected and how easy it is to use: We have always considered the efficiency of packaging and clarity of instructions as part of our product reviews, but for the Sustainable Packaging Awards, GH scientists and industry experts assessed 190 products' packaging based on materials, recyclability, design, minimalism, efficiency, and innovation. We awarded products that rose to the top based on our judges' scores and ensured that the products with the highest packaging scores met our Institute's effectiveness criteria — we would not endorse a product that does not work, no matter how sustainably packaged.

What is the most eco-friendly packaging?

We know that between greenwashing claims and confusing industry terms and regulations, it can be difficult to find what products are actually eco-friendly or sustainable. Here's how to find the best eco-friendly packaging and ways to make more sustainable choices when shipping products:

• Reuse as much as possible. First and foremost, cut down on the amount of packaging you're consuming. We recommend collecting tissue paper, wrapping paper, and shipping envelopes to reuse when needed. Save cardboard boxes from online orders. Even if they break down during travel, the pieces can be used as cushioning material.
• Remember that the less material, the better. Lighter weight materials can mean less CO2 emissions during transportation and production.
• Know that paper is a great packing alternative to plastic as it is recycled more commonly and is biodegradable. Ideally, look for cardboard and paper that is uncoated and unwaxed instead of bubble wrap.
• Biodegradable packing peanuts are made of potato and corn starch instead of styrofoam, so they will break down when thrown away when standard packing peanuts will not.
• Corrugated cardboard is a great replacement for plastic containers. It can easily be reused and recycled.

How to spot eco-friendly packaging when shopping in stores

Beyond shipping and mailing, you can also help to reduce your carbon footprint by shopping for products that are packaged sustainably. Here's what to look for when shopping: ✔️Prioritize packaging with recycled content. Repurposing old materials is a great way for a brand to reuse previous waste. ✔️Seek out recyclable materials that can be easily recycled curbside at home. It's a good idea to be familiar with recycling symbols too. Here are common recyclable materials:

• PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
• HDPE (high-density polyethylene)
• LDPE (low-density polyethylene)
• PE (polyethylene)

✔️ Look for “zero-waste packaging,” meaning the product’s packaging gets returned to the manufacturer or a third party to be cleaned and refilled or upcycled instead of thrown away. A great example: Loop x Ulta partnership, which essentially rents out packaging to consumers who purchase beauty products online. The products are delivered to your doorstep in a fully reusable Loop Tote, and when you’ve used up the product, empties get picked up in the same tote and shipped back to Loop to be cleaned and reused. There's a small deposit fee for the packaging when you order the product (it's reimbursed upon the packaging's return), and the flat $10 shipping fee also covers the return of the empty containers. ✔️Avoid mixed-material packaging. If you see something packaged in multiple types of materials such as paper and plastic, remember this makes recycling difficult. You may be able to recycle each component, but you'll have to separate them first. ✔️Shop for clear glass which can be recycled, while colored glass cannot. ✔️Opt for aluminum and steel like soda cans and canned food that can easily be recycled curbside. ✔️ Avoid products with secondary packaging such as plastic ties, cardboard dividers, and packing, as many cannot be recycled. ✔️Shop simple packaging. Less coloring on the box and labels makes recycling easier. ✔️Look for refillable containers. Some products are designed so you buy packaging once and then continue to refill it over and over instead of rebuying and tossing the same product. ✔️Only buy cosmetics with primary packaging, which means no additional waste from tossed boxes or plastic packaging. A simple seal to ensure the product's integrity is all you need. Avoid packaging with pumps, droppers, and pressurized aerosol cans: None of these can be easily disposed of. ✔️Shop "naked" food. Flexible plastic wraps, films, and Styrofoam cannot be recycled or reused, so instead, look for minimal, recyclable packaging like Loop. Alternatively, shop for groceries in bulk and bring your own reusable containers. ✔️Use organic fabric reusable bags to replace single-use plastic bags while shopping. You can use them over and over again, cutting down on unnecessary waste. ✔️Buy clothing from sustainable fashion brands or better yet, buy secondhand from local thrift stores and online programs such as ThreadUp or Poshmark to reduce environmental impact.

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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.

É esse o conceito de consumo consciente que Tom Szaky, fundador e CEO da empresa americana TerraCycle, está vendendo para grandes varejistas de vários países.