Lookfantastic and Cult Beauty parent THG has announced a new-look recycle:me beauty recycling scheme in partnership with waste management company MYGroup and tech business Metrisk.
The initiative aims to help consumers deal with difficult-to-recycle beauty and cosmetic packaging and is targeting one million units recycled within the first year of launch. Consumers will be able to use the scheme’s dedicated app to book a Royal Mail collection service for any brand’s cosmetic packaging – at no cost.
In addition, recycle:me will generate detailed data that should offer invaluable insight into consumer recycling behaviour for brands as they face up to new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation.
EPR is an environmental policy requiring manufacturers to take more financial responsibility when dealing with end-of-life management of the products and packaging they bring to market. Read more about EPR here.
Mark Jones, chief sustainability officer at THG, said: “For brands, recycling schemes are incredibly complex and costly.
“With recycle:me, we are offering our brand partners a cohesive industry approach that provides the level of data needed under new EPR regulations.”
Steve Carrie, director at MYGroup, which has been helping retailers such as Boots and Harrods collect and recycle packaging in stores, acknowledged the beauty industry faces “a significant issue in tackling its waste problem”.
“Although many consumers are keen to do their part, the UK recycling system often causes confusion and means that only 9% of cosmetic packaging is recycled, according to the British Beauty Council,” he stated.
“As the market leader in cosmetics recycling, we’re proud to be partnering with THG and its premium beauty brands to make recycling easy and accessible through recycle:me.”
Also supporting the scheme is Metrisk, which has developed tech platform Scan2Recycle to deliver incentivised recycling solutions. These schemes provide the ability for brands, retailers, and local authorities to take back hard-to recycle plastics, while encouraging recycling and providing detailed reporting to assist with EPR requirements.
Metrisk has created the free recycle:me app that consumers can use to scan their packaging, arrange a doorstep collection, and track reward points in exchange for eligible products.
Alistair Morelli, co-founder & director at Metrisk, remarked: “We’re thrilled to partner with THG’s recycle:me scheme to divert excess cosmetics packaging from landfill.
“The technology behind our app offers full traceability, allowing brands to confidently report on the lifecycle of their products.”
Read more about the work of MYGroup and Metrisk on Green Retail World
[image credit: THG]
1 thought on “Beauty recycling: THG introduces new-look recycle:me scheme”
THG have now downgraded the recycling scheme, with a major decline in terms and conditions for the consumer. Previously THG awarded £5 of points, now they offer a £5 discount code, and only one code can be used per order, there is a £25 min. spend, brand exclusions apply and no discount code can be used. It is a really poor scheme and doesn’t adequately incentivize the consumer to recycle, which given THG is a major player in a beauty industry which is a huge plastics polluter of our land and oceans is unforgivable.