The Sustainable Beauty Coalition is pushing new boundaries to collaboratively tackle beauty industry waste head on. According to The Courage to Change Report the beauty industry produces over 120bn units of packaging globally, much of which goes to landfill. In fact, the beauty industry accounts for a whopping 1/3 of all landfill waste and 70% of our industry’s plastic waste is not recycled. What’s more, research also shows that 56% of people do not recycle their bathroom products, contributing to the mounting waste crisis.
Launching in March 2025 ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’ is a first of its kind collaboration between retailers and brands designed to significantly reduce the amount of waste created by the beauty industry.
The initiative will focus on increasing industry and consumer awareness and adoption of reuse and refill systems. It is also set to increase recycling rates of beauty empties through spotlighting take-back schemes and household recycling where available. To date, 21 leading retailers and brands have expressed interest in joining.
As part of the initiative, the British Beauty Council will be directing consumers to existing recycling schemes across the UK via its interactive map.
All brands and businesses involved will activate under ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’ campaign imagery and call to action, making this a key touchpoint for consumers throughout March and beyond.
‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’ will officially launch during Waste Week (3rd–9th March), aligning with Global Recycling Day (18th March) and the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste (30th March) later in the month.
The Sustainable Beauty Coalition is urging all beauty brands and businesses operating in the UK to get involved – register your interest and download the toolkit here.
