Happy Global Recycling Day. First introduced back in 2018, today is all about educating people on the importance of recycling for preserving our planet.

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."

Mais do que usar os seus produtos de beleza até a última gota, a gente recomenda fortemente atenção na hora de descartar as embalagens vazias. E você sabe por que vale separar as embalagens de produtos de beleza e/ou maquiagem de plástico dos demais potes do seu lixo reciclável? Geralmente, elas contém resíduos de produtos que podem contaminar rios e lençóis freáticos por terem algumas substâncias químicas em sua composição. Além disso, infelizmente, a coleta seletiva não está disponível em todo Brasil, portanto pode ser uma oportunidade de você colaborar com a reciclagem e com a diminuição do volume de lixo nos aterros sanitários.

Com o objetivo de reduzir o impacto ambiental de suas embalagens, a Natura e The Body Shop estão com uma ação de logística reversa em parceria com a empresa TerraCycle. A cada cinco embalagens vazias que você devolver à loja, você recebe uma unidade de volta! E mais: conectada com questões urgentes de sustentabilidade, as lojas Natura passam a receber embalagens de qualquer produto das marcas do grupo Natura &Co, como Avon e Aesop.

While innovation in the beauty world often focuses on defying age or bringing out that elusive inner glow, the industry’s ugliest issue to tackle in 2021 is actually the amount of waste it generates. That pump on your favourite serum, for example, often includes so many parts that the entire product is non-recyclable, and that contributes to the almost 90 per cent of discarded plastics that end up in Canadian landfills every year.   “All that packaging, which is very durable and goes through intensive quality control – why couldn’t it be refilled?” wonders green beauty pioneer Tata Harper. “I think over all, [we’re] an industry that has a lot of work to do in terms of reusability.”   Harper is leading the way to more sustainably-packaged cosmetics, which isn’t surprising considering the eco-friendly approach to skin care she has developed over the past decade. A former industrial engineer, Harper founded her namesake brand in 2010 as a natural alternative to luxury skin-care labels such as La Mer. The brand evolved out of sourcing natural ingredients for her stepfather, who had been diagnosed with skin cancer. Today, she is beloved for her oils and serums, which are all produced on a 1,200-acre organic farm in Champlain Valley, Vt., where she’s lived since launching the business.   Sustainable packaging was baked in from the very beginning, with Harper’s products mostly bottled in glass and packaged in recycled paper boxes dyed with natural soy-based pigments. “Designing how you produce things for sustainability is incredibly important, because you reduce waste dramatically by controlling what and how you produce,” Harper says.   Harper’s latest product, the lightweight, silicone-free Water-Lock Moisturizer, is sold in a sustainable refill system that solves the pump conundrum by incorporating an inner pod that can be removed, recycled and replaced. The outer shell can continue functioning for up to two years.   “Cartridges and refill stations will soon become the norm – especially when it comes to skin and hair care,” says Sarah Jay, a sustainability expert behind the 2019 documentary Toxic Beauty. Last year, Unilever announced that 100 per cent of its plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Brands such as Gillette, The Body Shop and L’Occitane have partnered with recycling company TerraCycle on incentive programs that encourage customers to return empty products for recycling or refilling. “It is an absolute priority for brands to take responsibility for the waste they generate,” Jay says.   Harper points out that ensuring sustainability is an evolving process for beauty brands such as hers – and pre-empting the demands of the market has become an integral part of how she does business. “We’re never done learning,” she says. “There’s always something new and better to try, especially when it comes to packaging.”

TerraCycle’s milkman-like delivery model, Loop, expands online and at brick-and-mortar locations. Kate Bertrand Connolly 1 | Nov 04, 2020 Following a successful pilot program that started in 2019, the Loop circular shopping platform from TerraCycle has expanded its online operation to provide an unlimited number of US consumers from coast to coast with home delivery of products packed in reusable packaging, as well as pickup of the empty packages. Loop also made its brick-and-mortar debut recently, in France. “Carrefour just brought Loop into its first store,” says Eric Rosen, publicist, US public relations, for Loop/TerraCycle. “We anticipate Loop being in-store in other retailers in 2021.” Carrefour’s online Loop service launched in Paris last year. Following a successful pilot program that started in 2019, the Loop circular shopping platform from TerraCycle has expanded its online operation to provide an unlimited number of US consumers from coast to coast with home delivery of products packed in reusable packaging, as well as pickup of the empty packages. Loop also made its brick-and-mortar debut recently, in France. “Carrefour just brought Loop into its first store,” says Eric Rosen, publicist, US public relations, for Loop/TerraCycle. “We anticipate Loop being in-store in other retailers in 2021.” Carrefour’s online Loop service launched in Paris last year. In the United States, consumers will find Loop products at Kroger stores starting in 2021. Also in North America, Burger King and Tim Hortons restaurants plan to launch Loop pilot projects next year. Loop’s online scale-up coincides with an explosion in internet shopping and home delivery fueled by the COVID-19 virus, though it’s also a natural next step considering the success of the pilot program. More than 100,000 people have signed up for the service to date. With the online version of Loop, consumers buy products that have been filled into reusable packaging made, for example, of metal or glass. They then return the empty packages to Loop, which cleans the packages for refilling by Loop’s brand partners. Loop packs consumer orders into reusable totes for delivery, and consumers return the empty packaging to Loop using the same totes. Loop products are packed and shipped from the company’s New Jersey warehouse to all US ZIP codes. (Frozen products are only shipped to locations where delivery can be made within 24 hours.) The platform launched in 2019 as a pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic United States and Paris, France. In July 2020, Loop launched online in the United Kingdom, working in partnership with retailer Tesco. A Canadian online launch is planned for Toronto in February 2021. Loop has expanded rapidly vis-à-vis brand partners and product selection, now offering more than 80 brands and 400 products in the United States and Europe. Product categories include grocery, beauty, health and personal care, and household essentials. Brand owners range from giants like Nestlé and Procter & Gamble to start-ups like Soapply. Next year will be an important one for Loop in brick-and-mortar restaurants and stores. Burger King plans to start a pilot Loop program in 2021 that will offer eat-in and to-go customers sandwiches and drinks packed in returnable, reusable food containers and cups. Consumers who choose the reusable packaging will pay a deposit when they place their order and get the deposit back after returning the packaging to Burger King. The pilot will start in select Burger King restaurants in New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Tokyo, with additional cities to join in the months that follow. Canada’s Tim Hortons quick-service restaurant chain has announced a similar Loop pilot. The program will start in 2021 at select Tim Hortons restaurants in Toronto. Also starting next year, US consumers will be able to visit Loop in-store at select Kroger locations. The plan for Loop in brick-and-mortar stores is not only to sell Loop products but also to collect the empty packaging for cleaning and reuse. Loop publicist Rosen discusses the program’s burgeoning expansion, both online and in-store, in this exclusive Packaging Digest Q&A. How many brick-and-mortar retailers in the United States will be selling Loop products in 2021? Is this a channel Loop is interested in exploring further? What have consumers said about their willingness (or not) to take empty packages back to a physical store? Rosen: As of now, in the United States, there will be one brick-and-mortar retailer, Kroger, selling Loop products in-store in 2021. There are, however, many retailers who are and will be integrating Loop into their ecommerce platforms. Yes, [in-store] is a channel Loop is pursuing and will continue to pursue. In fact, Loop just opened in its first brick-and-mortar retailer — Carrefour in France. As for consumers’ willingness to take empties back to a physical store, while we haven’t surveyed consumers, we believe returning empty packaging will be embraced. When will Loop be expanding into additional markets in Europe and Asia, either online or via brick-and-mortar stores? Rosen: Loop will be launching in Canada, Australia, and Japan in 2021. We will continue to seek opportunities to launch in other countries and will be announcing more as we solidify plans. How will Loop, brand owners, and/or retailers educate consumers about how in-store Loop works and its benefits? Rosen: Loop, brand owners, and retailers educate consumers through websites, social media, and earned media placements in outlets worldwide.

Now that the Loop program is national in the United States, how many locations are cleaning the empty, returned packages?

Rosen: In the United States, the cleaning facility is in Pennsylvania. We will be adding facilities as we scale.

What, if anything, has changed in the logistics of the Loop program (outgoing and incoming packages)? What, if anything, has changed with the lifecycle analysis of the packages sold in the Loop program because of the additional distances?

Rosen: Nothing has changed in the logistics. Based on Loop’s third-party lifecycle analysis, creating a durable (or “reusable”) container uses more energy and resources than creating a disposable (or “single-use”) container. However, over time, the reusable container has a lower environmental and economic cost, as it does not need to be remanufactured on every use. Instead, it is transported and cleaned, which is a much lower environmental cost. According to Loop, the efficiency of a reusable package in Loop is even more evident as consumers participate repeatedly. After two to three uses of the packaging, the environmental impact is breakeven. By 10 uses, there is a more than 35% reduction in environmental impacts.

Are all products still being shipped to consumers from Loop’s New Jersey warehouse? Is that still the plan moving forward, to have just one warehouse?

Rosen: Loop’s New Jersey warehouse ships all products in the United States. As we scale, we intend to have additional warehousing in other parts of the country. The Loop warehouse in France is in Lille, and the one in the United Kingdom is in Crick.

How well are the durable packages holding up to use, cleaning, and reuse? Are the brands getting the number of uses they hoped they would?

Rosen: The durable packaging is holding up well as it goes through Loop cycles. I can’t comment on the brands, and what their expectations were/are.

Is UPS still Loop’s only partner for deliveries/pickups? Are there any plans for additional delivery services to be involved, especially as volumes and delivery areas are growing?

Rosen: Yes, Loop’s US logistics partner is UPS. In France, it’s Colisweb, and in the UK, it’s DPD. There are no plans for additional delivery services to be involved.

The allergen warning on the Loop website states: “Please note that the Loop Tote is packed in a facility that may have handled wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, and soy, and may contain traces of the same. If you or someone in your family has a serious food allergy, Loop may not be for you.” Are there any plans to address this, so people can safely order Loop products without worry from allergens?

Rosen: There are no current plans to address this.

Who designs the Loop packages?

Rosen: Each brand partner is responsible for the design of its packaging. All packaging must be approved by Loop.

What is the size range of Loop packages?

Rosen: The smallest container is 20 ml (less than an ounce) for Tea Tree Oil from The Body Shop. The biggest package is an 8-lb container for kitty litter from Purina.

How have consumers reacted to Loop since its launch last year?

Rosen: We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to Loop since its launch. In fact, meeting consumer demand is what led to the rapid expansion — from 10 states to every ZIP code in the contiguous 48 states. We have more than 100,000 sign-ups, and that continues to grow.    

Com o objetivo de reduzir o impacto ambiental de suas embalagens, a Natura e The Body Shop estão com uma ação de logística reversa em parceria com a empresa TerraCycle. A cada cinco embalagens vazias que você devolver à loja, você recebe uma unidade de volta! E mais: conectada com questões urgentes de sustentabilidade, as lojas Natura passam a receber embalagens de qualquer produto das marcas do grupo Natura &Co, como Avon e Aesop.

Estamos mudando o nosso jeito de lidar com os plásticos e embalagens para sermos uma marca cada vez mais sustentável.

A Natura e a The Body Shop, marca de cosméticos adquirida pela multinacional brasileira, lançaram no final de agosto um programa de logística reversa em suas lojas. A cada cinco embalagens vazias das marcas, os clientes ganham um novo produto como recompensa.