14 Closed Loop Beauty Programs You Should Know About
Beauty product packaging is known to be some of the most difficult plastic to recycle. Oftentimes it can’t be recycled at all because the material is too small to be extracted for recycling or hasn’t been disposed of properly. From packaging waste to chemical pollution, the beauty industry contributes significantly to the environmental crisis. However, many beauty brands are prioritizing clean ingredients and sustainability, adopting closed loop programs to minimize their ecological footprint. Closed loop beauty refers to a circular system in which a product's materials are reused, recycled, or upcycled to minimize waste and promote sustainable production. We’ve created a list of some of the top beauty brands that have implemented closed loop programs, showcasing their commitment to sustainability and love for Ms. Earth! These brands have taken a step towards creating a better future, where beauty and sustainability coexist.
1. Credo Beauty
Founded in 2014, Credo Beauty is a clean beauty retailer that carries the largest selection of clean beauty products in the country. Credo is a co-founder of Pact, a nonprofit organization driven to improve beauty packaging and disposal. “Hard-to-recycle” is defined as plastic packages smaller than a yogurt cup, squeezable tubes, pumps, caps, and other common packaging formats that are unlikely to be recycled in curbside programs. Pact diverts this waste from landfills and works to give them a new life! You can bring your empties to any Credo Beauty location to be recycled and in exchange, earn rewards points! Check out their resources on how to properly recycle your beauty products!
In an effort to reduce packaging waste, The Body Shop has rolled out refill stations across 800 of their stores globally! Once you make your first purchase of an aluminum bottle, you can bring it back in, refill, reuse, and repeat! The Body Shop empowers others to embrace the circular economy and help eliminate waste by making zero-waste packaging as easy, convenient and accessible as possible.
Nordstrom aims to take back 100 tons of beauty packaging by 2025 and are helping beauty-lovers move toward a zero-waste beauty routine. They accept a wide variety of empty containers that will be recycled for reuse. You can find collection bins in the beauty department at a Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, or Nordstrom Local near you. Read their guidelines to find out which empties they take!
4. Versed
Versed Skincare has an empties send back program that takes care of hard-to-recycle packaging. Just wait until you have at least three empty Versed products ready to recycle and shoot them an email to get your prepaid shipping label. You’ll get rewards points on your Versed account, and you can also send them any other plastic beauty empties on top of your three Versed products!
5. MOB Beauty
All MOB packaging is 100% recyclable, made using post-consumer recycled materials or compostable after use, and designed to be endlessly refillable to reduce reliance on single use packaging. Due to the small size of their refills, they cannot be recycled at home. In their search for a solution, they joined forces with Credo and Hudson’s Bay Company and launched Pact to provide sustainable solutions for hard-to-recycle packaging. MOB is piloting the mail back recycling option for Pact, refillable packaging, and recyclable and compostable outer packaging.
6. Axiology
Axiology is also a Pact partner and participates in their empties collection program; just drop your empties off at Credo or print a $5 shipping label and mail them back! Axiology is also working to make their products 100% plastic-free and zero-waste.
ATHR has created a zero-waste, 100% recyclable eyeshadow palette made from FSC-Certified paper, recyclable aluminum and ink, and without a mirror or magnets. ATHR is also a Pact partner and their empties can be mailed back or dropped off at any Credo location!
8. Pyt
Pyt gives plastic a second life by using Post-Consumer Recycled material (PCR or recycled-plastic) in their packaging. They use sugarcane, a renewable resource, in many of their tubes and use a patented ingredient to pre-degrade plastic. Pre-degraded plastic is carefully broken down as it's being manufactured, with the goal of breaking down as much of the plastic's molecular signature without losing its commercial function, creating a material with close to 0% plastic footprint.
9. Ceremonia
Ceremonia’s bottles are made of at least 30% to 100% post-consumer-recycled PET material (PCR) and are recyclable. PCR requires the least amount of energy to be produced and recycled. PCR is also very light, making shipments more carbon efficient. Ceremonia is also certified plastic-negative; for every product they sell, they pledge to remove twice as much nature-bound plastic waste from the environment to be recycled and repurposed.
10. Kjaer Weis
Kjaer Weis’ packaging is made from sustainable materials that can be recycled and reused. When purchasing a product, you can choose between their recyclable premium paper packaging or a reusable container made from zamak, an alloy of metals that will last forever and can be refilled over and over. Built to last from high-quality metals, it can be taken anywhere and can also be easily recycled at the end of its life.
11. RMS Beauty
Since RMS Beauty launched in 2009, they have packaged many of their products in recyclable glass jars and continue to source new or tried-and-true recyclable materials like aluminum tubes. Beginning in 2022, they transitioned all of their existing lids to 100% PCR. In 2021, they debuted their first refillable packaging and continue to expand their refillable products. All of their unit cartons are made of 80% post-consumer-recycled mohawk paper. Additionally, all cartons are forestry certified and vegetable ink is used for printing.
12. Sandor
Susty hair care brand Sandor uses aluminum packaging, which can be infinitely recycled, and a reusable pump. Each bottle is shipped in a vessel of mycelium and agricultural waste that grows in a week and decomposes in about 45 days, leaving no trace behind. Their 100% recycled shipping boxes are printed with bio-renewable algae ink and are sealed with paper tape. Their ingredients are biodegradable to keep our waterways as clean as possible.
13. La bouche rouge
La bouche rouge is the first French, environmentally responsible “Maison de haute beauté” to propose clean formulas in refillable, recyclable cases, free from plastic. The materials used by La bouche rouge are all infinitely recyclable. Their packaging uses reusable materials, like a refillable lipstick case, a lipstick mechanism entirely made of metal, as well as a mascara consisting of a tube entirely made of glass, with a top in plant-based bio-materials and a brush made of castor plant fibers.
14. Kulfi Beauty
Kulfi Beauty’s shipping mailers are 100% compostable, biodegradable and recyclable with a 2 year breakdown period. Their tissue paper does not have glitter or a shiny coating so it can also be composted! Their eyeliner component is made from plastic, and cannot be recycled through regular curbside recycling practices, so they leverage TerraCycle to offer a recycling program that ensures their products are melted down, and turned into pellets that can be molded and used to produce new products. Once you have 5 eyeliner empties, email them for a free return label. Read their packaging recycling recommendations here!