Companies to consumers: British Beauty Council announces clean-up initiative to reduce cosmetic waste

The British Beauty Council is launching The Great British Beauty Clean Up led by its Sustainable Beauty Coalition in a bid to shrink the amount of waste produced by the beauty industry. The initiative, coinciding with Waste Week, will collaborate with retailers, beauty brands, and small business owners to reduce landfill waste produced from packaging and deliver consumers the tools to take action on recycling, reusing, and refilling their empty products. 

Millie Kendall OBE (Order of the British Empire), CEO of the British Beauty Council tells Personal Care Insights: “The beauty industry provides so much joy and self-confidence and is a source of expression for so many people but this should not come at the cost of the planet. The Sustainable Beauty Coalition has spearheaded the industry to reduce our industry’s impact on the planet and its new campaign is specifically designed to reduce the amount of beauty empties that end up in landfill.” 

“Any business can get involved, whether that’s highlighting their takeback scheme on our map, educating shoppers, or supporting the movement on social media.”

Data emphasizes the demand for the waste management campaign. The council revealed that 56% of consumers do not currently recycle their empty beauty products, while its Courage to Change landmark report disclosed that the industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging globally, much of which goes into landfills — 70% of the beauty industry’s plastic waste is not recyclable.

The Sustainable Beauty Coalition was established by the British Beauty Council following its 2020 Courage to Change report. The clean-up program will go into effect on March 3 of this year, demonstrating the industry’s moves to drive conscious consumerism and the council’s commitment to the cause. 

Beauty comapnies are increasingly looking at eco-friendly packaging solutions.Victoria Brownlie, chief of policy and sustainability at The British Beauty Council, says: “The initiative is about trying to work together as an industry to highlight the ways in which consumers can participate in better circulation and waste management when it comes to the end life of their products. So whether that’s taking it back into a store to be refilled, using a take-back scheme, or changing the types of products that they buy.”

She hopes the initiative will play a vital role in leading the future of greater recycling within the beauty sector, “Once the campaign has been completed in March, it is our intention to evaluate its success in terms of reach and consumer take-up and see how we can amplify that throughout the year,” Brownlie explains.

Recycle, reuse, refill

Over 30 brands have expressed interest in joining The Great British Beauty Clean Up initiative, and three confirmed retailers, L’Occitane, Boots, and THG (The Hut Group), are coinciding with strategic recycling activations.

Recycling, reuse, and refill schemes will lead marketing strategies as brands commit to educating and encouraging their existing customer base to incorporate waste-reducing practices into their beauty routines. 

“At L’Occitane we believe small actions can have an impact on a global scale. This campaign is all about empowerment and about sharing tools and knowledge across the beauty sector so we can all do better together,” says Rachel Meckes, sustainability manager at L’Occitane Group UK and Ireland.” 

The cosmetics brand says the communication plan involving social media, press coverage, in-store, customer relation management, and web activations will complement its existing circular commitments, including refill fountains in boutiques and recyclable packaging. Additionally, the brand will initiate a mini-campaign from March 10th to 18th for Mother’s Day. 

Meanwhile, Boots UK will focus on its in-store recycling scheme and app, which launched last year. By offering customers rewards, the business hopes to incentivize customers to recycle. 

Georgina Barry, sustainability manager at THG Beauty says, “We are taking The Great British Beauty Clean-up activity as a way to tell the world a lot more about recycling.”The Great British Beauty Clean-Up initiative aims to reduce the amount of beauty waste reaching landfill. 

The group says Gen Z consumers are a leading audience to be targeted through social media marketing in a bid to reduce beauty waste. The Hut Group’s beauty brands’ (LOOKFANTASTIC and Cult Beauty) doorstep collection and take-back scheme offers a free way for consumers to recycle empty beauty packaging.

Minimising waste

According to The Upcycled Beauty Company’s Zero Waste Beauty Report 2025, packaging accounts for 70% of the beauty industry’s waste, and 95% of cosmetic packaging is thrown away. This results in the destruction of US$4.8 billion worth of beauty products annually. 

Personal Care Insights recently reported on how the personal care industry is contributing to a circular economy, with companies considering sustainable supply chains from formulation to packaging. There is one main goal across the sector— to reduce waste. 

The Great British Beauty Clean Up aims to raise awareness of beauty waste at all levels. Ahead of the launch next month, Millie Kendall OBE, CEO, explains that the public can immediately get involved by starting to collect their empties.

She also notes that “smaller brands might want to get involved by communicating with the clients and customers in-store or via digital channels.” 

Beauty brands and businesses will continue to have the opportunity to launch further activations throughout March to align with World Recycling Day (March 18) and United Nations International Day of Zero Waste (March 30).