Boots shoppers embrace new sustainable habits with record number of products banked in its recycling scheme in January

Boots has this week released new data that shows customers across the UK are adopting new sustainable habits as they enter 2022, with more people actively searching Boots.com for products that have sustainable credentials. In addition, the successful ‘Recycle at Boots’ scheme has seen its biggest ever week, with over 22,000 items scanned in the second week of January with numbers continuing to rise.*

The retailer has seen more customers looking for sustainable options on Boots.com with an 18% uplift year-on-year on searches for refillable products, while ‘reusable’ has seen a significant increase of 58% vs 2021 data.** To support customers with their sustainable journey, Boots offer ‘Be More’ shopping edits on Boots.com to help customers make informed decisions on products that are right for them and the planet, and navigate what sustainability means to them.

This shift in shopping behaviour, based increasingly on personal ethical decisions, emerges as the ‘Recycle at Boots’ scheme hits a significant milestone. Customers have banked over one million products since its launch in September 2020, with toothpaste, mascara and face serum ranking as the top products most likely to be returned to the store to be recycled.

Available at over 700 stores across the UK, ‘Recycle at Boots’ is the most accessible scheme of its kind. Usually, when customers bring back their five empty products to a participating store, they receive 250 Boots Advantage Card points when they spend £10. However, Boots has doubled the number of points customers will receive for using the scheme until the end of March, meaning customers will receive 500 points worth £5.00.

Natalie Gourlay, interim Head of CSR said: “When we launched the “Recycle at Boots” scheme in 2020, there was nothing else like it on the high street and we wanted to incentivise customers and make it easier for them to recycle products that can’t traditionally be recycled at home. We are proud to have hit such a significant milestone. We are continually looking at how we manage our own ‘Bootprint’ as part of the way we operate our business, whilst actively seeking ways to make it easier for customers to be agents of change. We are delighted to see so many customers kicking off the new year with new sustainable habits and we are committed to helping them to continue to make ethical choices throughout 2022.”