The Body Shop expands its beauty product refill stations across the US

08 Apr 2022 --- The Body Shop is broadening its refill program in stores across the US, with the goal of having 49% of all locations equipped with refill stations by the end of 2022. The easy-to-use in-store stations allow customers to refill their favorite body, hair and hand care products including shower gels, shampoos, conditioners and hand washes. The selection of available products will vary from six to 12 depending on store size. 

In 2021, The Body Shop announced an ambitious five-year plan to roll out refill stations in the majority of its stores globally in an effort to reduce plastic use and become the most environmentally sustainable business possible. 

“The foundation of The Body Shop's environmental activism was born out of ideas like these, when our founder, Dame Anita Roddick, refilled her first bottle out of necessity in 1976,” says Hilary Lloyd, vice president of marketing and values, North America. 

“Our customers have been eagerly awaiting for refills to return to The Body Shop. We're thrilled to be embracing a circular economy approach and provide this [environmentally] sustainable alternative.”

The refill stations allow customers to refill their favorite body, hair and hand care products including shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, and hand washes. Reducing beauty product plastic waste
The Body Shop says every year, the beauty sector generates billions of pieces of plastic that end up in landfills or the ocean. 

Since last year, when The Body Shop announced the rollout of refill stations across 400 stores globally, the brand collectively has saved over 3.7 metric tons of plastic, which is equivalent to 170,000 plastic bottles. 

Now, another 400 refill stations are planned for 2022, with the aim of saving 25 metric tons of plastic and helping to prevent up to 5lbs of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

The company says by the end of 2022, The Body Shop will have refill stations present in about half of its store locations across the country including Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and others.

Last year at Packaging Innovations in London, UK, PackagingInsights spoke with William Connolly, head of packaging innovation and sustainability at The Body Shop about the cosmetics company’s various avenues to more environmentally sustainable packaging. 

Unilever has also expanded its refillable packaging trials across the UK, including a first “return on the go” refill trial, in selected Asda supermarkets and Co-op convenience stores. The FMCG giant’s household brands Persil, Simple, Radox and Alberto Balsam are available in reusable stainless-steel bottles in selected Asda and Co-op stores since the end of 2021.

Edited

By Natalie Schwertheim

This feature is provided by Personal Care Insights’s sister website, Packaging Insights.

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