It’s Global Recycling Day (18 March) so let’s ask: What do you do with your beauty product empties? Recycle them? Refill them? Or simply just throw them away?

Packaging is, without doubt, the blemish of the beauty world. The industry annually produces around 120 billion units – yet only around nine percent of this is recycled. The rest goes to landfill and the oceans.

So how can we reduce the environmental impact of looking good? Here’s a couple of easy ways to create a prettier future for the planet, starting with TerraCycle: 

Never heard of TerraCycle? It’s an innovative recycling program that takes your old beauty packaging (and other types of hard-to-recycle waste that can’t go into your council collection) and turns it all into raw fibres and plastics that manufacturers use to make new products. 

Supported by top brands including Burts Bees, Garnier, MooGoo, and Sukin, it’s an amazing global initiative that’s been running for over 20 I years, repurposing over seven billion units of waste and counting.

We’re hugely proud to be part of it - just send us your beauty empties, like your mascara wands, lipstick bullets, compacts, bottles, beauty tubes, and palettes, or bring them into store, and we’ll get it into TerraCycle’s expert hands through our special TerraCycle Zero Waste collection boxes. Watch TerraCycle’s video on this page to see what happens to your empties, it’s amazing!

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You can TerraCycle any brand of cosmetic, skincare, or hair care packaging

If there’s any remaining product remove as much as you can

No need to wash the packaging, TerraCycle does this for you!

Drop your empties into us at The Well Store or get in touch with us here for a mailing label.

Many beauty brands are leading the way and prioritising plastic-free, more sustainable options such as glass, recyclable bottles, or Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) packaging, as well as launching refillable products. 

Brands we stock and love for their sustainable packaging commitment include:

Edible Beauty’s goodies are packaged in either glass, recyclable, sugar cane, or PCR, complete with FSC-certified outer cartons. The company also uses recyclable mailer boxes and biodegradable packing peanuts! Browse our Edible Beauty range here.

Eye of Horus is all about Earth-friendly packaging, pledging to achieve the Government’s 2025 Packaging Targets that aims to keep packaging out of landfill. Explore our Eye of Horus products here.

Ere Perez already has a range of refillables and by 2024 aims to be 87% plastic free, 50% recyclable, 26% refillable, and 24% reusable. Check out their products here.

Eco by Sonya (and Eco Tan) is registered with GreenFleet, which plants forests on the brand’s behalf. All its packaging is also either made with 100% recyclable biodegradable sugar cane or with PCR recycled materials, and all shipping products are likewise made from recycled and biodegradable materials. Discover our Eco by Sonya products and the Eco Tan range.

Inika is certified plastic neutral. For every kilo of plastic used, a kilo is collected and recycled. New packaging is made from 90% sustainable and reused materials such as aluminium and glass, they’ve reduced virgin plastic use by 84%, and even repurposed collected plastic into fence posts for in-need farming communities. Browse our Inika product range here.

What we Do as a Company. Of course, we can’t mention Global Recycling Day without highlighting our own sustainability! So, here’s a quick fun fact: As a retail business we only throw out two to three bags of rubbish a week, because we reuse as much supplier packaging as we can.

We also request no plastic filling in our deliveries – only recyclable cardboard packaging, paper scrunch, and biodegradable filling.

And naturally, we only stock brands that are natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and as kind to the planet as possible!

We’re proud to stock sustainable brands across all our ranges – beauty, skincare, hair, home, wellness, and more. 

Do get in touch if you have any questions about using TerraCycle or choosing sustainable beauty brands. We’d love to help! Email mariana@thewellstore.com.au

TERRACYCLE WITH US FOR GLOBAL RECYCLING DAY!