with L’Occitane
Did you know that most beauty product packaging is not kerbside recyclable in Australia? The reality is that these items usually end up in landfill, even when put in your recycling bin, because they are made from a mix of materials, and are often in colours and sizes that normal recycling processors can’t sort properly.
The good news is there are recycling solutions out there which are easily accessible, thanks to brands that are serious about the sustainability of the products, such as L’Occitane.
L’Occitane teamed up with TerraCycle in 2016 to offer their customers a recycling program for their products and any other brand, on a like-for-like basis. It was our first beauty product recycling program in Australia, and allows customers to recycle L’Occitane products at all 56 boutique store locations. All you need to do is save the empty product containers, drop them off at the instore collection stations and, as a bonus, you’ll receive 10% off your next like-for-like purchase.
The waste is then shipped to us, where it will be sorted, shredded and melted down into plastic pellets to be used in the manufacture of new products. Previously, TerraCycle has made garden beds from oral care waste, outdoor classrooms from recycled materials and Australia’s first recycled playground made with beauty products. Recycling items that would normally go to landfill helps us move toward a circular economy and saves more of the Earth’s resources for future generations.
L’Occitane are committed to protecting the environment and reducing waste. Their goal is to make all their bottles from 100% recycled plastic by 2025. Since launching their program with us in 2016, an incredible 312,370 units (almost ten tonnes) of empty product packaging has been collected in Australia alone. By 2025, the brand’s global goal is that all their 1,500+ brand boutiques will offer a recycling service such as TerraCycle.
In addition to their recycling efforts, L’Occitane encourage their customers to limit their use of packaging with their eco-refill system, ‘fill and feel better’. This initiative first launched in 2008 and now offers 21 of their best-selling products in easy to use refill packaging. For example, when you’re running low on your favourite Almond Oil, there’s no need to purchase a new full-sized bottle instead you can choose to replenish’, which uses up to 90% less plastic than using a new bottle. Last year alone, this system saved 124 tonnes of plastic from use thanks to these eco-refills options.
To celebrate all their environmental achievements to date, as well as their sustainability month, L’Occitane are giving away a huge prize pack valued at over $270! To enter, simply tell us your favourite sustainability tip in the comment section of the Facebook post. Be sure to tag your friends so they can enter too!
TerraCycle News 