How to Correctly Recycle Your Beauty Products

The skincare and beauty industry is one of the contributors to pollution. According to research, 7.9 billion units of plastic were used in the year 2018 alone for the packaging and production of personal care and beauty products in the U.S. solely.

This can be an overwhelmingly huge number to come to terms with.

According to TerraCycle, a major volunteer-based recycling program in the U.S., 50% of the people who own beauty products don’t even try to recycle their products as it is “inconvenient.”

Recycling can be especially challenging when it comes to make up and beauty products due to the different varieties of unique packagings that they come in. Navigating through the world of all the different tubes, pumps, sprayers and droppers can be a task in and of itself.

Fortunately, we see more and more beauty brands turning their focus towards sustainable packaging alternatives. This is a step in the right direction.

However, there is only so much the beauty industry can do to stop the damage that plastics can cause to our environment.

As consumers, we need to make a conscious effort to educate ourselves on the dos and don’ts of recycling.

Below is a list of a few baby steps you can take towards your beauty recycling journey.

Know Your Numbers

The recycling symbol on your packaging is not your only cue to judge whether something is recyclable or not. Most products are not that easily recyclable even if they have the Mobius Loop on them.

The main thing to keep in mind is to figure out what the recyclable nature of the product container is. To determine whether a product is recyclable in your normal curb-side recycling bin, check for the number written inside the Mobius Loop.

As a general rule, only the plastic containers with the numbers 1 or 2 written inside the recycling loop are conveniently recyclable and accepted in most recycling plants.

In any case, before recycling anything, you should check the recyclability of your container by contacting your local municipality. Furthermore, you can also find this information on your local city’s official website, or on platforms like Earth911.

Look for Internal Recycling Programs

There are times when beauty products cannot be recycled due to your community’s limited recycling options.

Luckily, beauty conglomerates are turning their focus towards eco-friendly options. A number of major beauty brands now offer internal recycling programs within their own facilities.

Oftentimes, beauty products cannot be recycled due to their small size or your community's recycling options. So, if you find there is an item that cannot be recycled in your neighborhood, you can check if it belongs to a brand that offers in-house recycling options.

More and more brands now offer their own recycling schemes. This gives you a chance at recycling your products even if they are not accepted in your local community. You just have to grab your empty containers, clean them and drop them off at the beauty supply store that they came from. That store will then recycle the products on your behalf.

Avoid Multi-material Packaging

Multilayer packaging is a huge no-no when it comes to recycling.

When the product is made out of multiple layers of plastic, it makes it hard and sometimes even impossible to recycle it. This is the most common with the packaging for pumps, droppers and tubes as they are often multi-layered and use more than one type of material. Before throwing your tubes or pumps in the recycling bin, a good practice is to separate the heads of the bottles so that they actually end up in the recycling plant and not in a landfill.

Sometimes, despite their small size, screwcaps are completely fine to recycle. Just remember to recycle them along with the bottle they come with and not separately.

Other Things to Avoid

There are a lot of pre-requisites that you need to consider before you chuck a container in the recycle bin.

However, to make it simple, there are a few common things you can avoid to make your recycling process easier. There are a few packagings that are widely not accepted at recycling plants. They tend to bring the whole recycling process to a halt if found within the trash. The most common culprits are containers that are tiny or small in size. Usually something that is 2 inches or smaller. This could include travel-size products, small tubes and testers. Products containing mirrors and magnets are also largely not recyclable. Additionally, products such as shampoos, conditioners et cetera, that come in dark packages are also not accepted by the recycling plants and are eventually thrown into the trash.

Reach For Refillable Options

When all is said and done, at the end of the day our main goal is to reduce overall consumption and produce less waste.

Reaching for brands and products that come with refillable options is an smart move towards sustainability.

While it is important to work on our recycling habits, the more important goal to work towards is to create less waste in the first place. It is to do whatever you can do to reduce your use of plastics.

Refillable products are more common nowadays than ever before.