THE WHAT? British luxury retailer Harrods has partnered with Yorkshire-based waste management and recycling business, My Group, on a trial scheme to recycle used cosmetics products in the one of the retailer’s H Beauty stores.
THE DETAILS The scheme will run for three months in Milton Keynes, with Harrods inviting consumers to bring in used cosmetic and skincare products to be recycled.
Nail polish and fragrance bottles are also able to be returned, despite often being deemed as ‘unrecyclable.’
According to a press release: “MYGroup is a market leader in processing cosmetic waste and has invested in a series of advanced technological processes at its Hull facility, meaning both the packaging and inner product of the cosmetic items can be fully extracted, processed and recycled.
“Consequently, H beauty customers will be able to recycle a huge range of products in store – from make-up items, such as compacts, mascara and eye shadow containers, to shampoo and skincare bottles, lotion pumps and vitamin bottles.”
The collected products will be either composted, re-purposed and returned to the supply chain or manufactured into MYGroup’s solution for ‘unrecyclable’ plastic waste: MYboard.
THE WHY? The scheme aligns with Harrods ESG commitments, and its wider sustainability strategy ‘Harrods Path to a Sustainable Future.’
Mia Collins, Head of Beauty, Harrods, said: “The launch of the scheme marks another incredible milestone for Harrods and H beauty, showcasing our commitment to bringing a more circular and sustainable shopping experience to our customers and encouraging the H beauty community to recycle beauty packaging and products that are not able to be recycled by traditional kerbside collections.
“As a leading voice in the UK beauty industry, we are committed to making beauty more circular and by partnering with MYGroup we are able to capture more materials that might otherwise have found their way into landfill and waterways. I am proud to be working with MYGroup to drive this sustainability initiative and increase recycling and circularity across the beauty industry.”
