The beauty industry is a constant conveyor belt of creativity that churns out new products daily—leading to the production of an estimated 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging annually. While this is beneficial for business growth, 95% of this cosmetic packaging is thrown away, and only 14% of this is sent to be recycled. Of this mere figure set to be repurposed, human error often comes into play, and many products are incorrectly considered to be recyclable or are too contaminated to be reused. As a result, only 9% of beauty waste ends up actually being recycled—with the rest left in landfill—contributing to piles of waste plagued with materials that can take up to 450 years to fully decompose.

While these are stats those well-versed on the subject of cosmetic waste are consciously aware of, there is still a lack of education among both consumers and industry players regarding recycling, making the issue a tough one to tackle.

Laney Crowell, founder and CEO of clean beauty brand Saie, emphasizes the detrimental impact the high volume of waste produced by the beauty industry has throughout the world. “The plastic tidal wave of beauty waste is overwhelming our planet,” Crowell tells BeautyMatter. “Marine life suffers as oceans fill with debris. landfills overflow, and harmful microplastics seep into our food chain and our bloodstream. It’s time for radical change. A sustainable beauty industry is no longer optional—it’s imperative.” 

Crowell’s passion for a cleaner planet is a core pillar of Saie’s ethos, reflected not only by the brand's clean-committed SKUs, but reinstated through The Saie Climate Initiative, a program created to directly combat beauty’s impact on climate change via a three-pronged approach—operating with consciousness of resources, community, and the planet. So far through the program, Saie has committed to being net zero by 2040, becoming the first beauty brand to join forces with The Climate Pledge, an organization whose mission is to accelerate responsible climate action in every industry. Additionally, as part of the initiative, Saie formed a partnership with rePurpose Global, with a plan to recover 5 million pounds of plastic over three years across four countries and five coastlines and create an established, all-women board of experts to support, guide, and drive this mission.

”The Saie Climate Initiative is a historic commitment for the beauty industry, and every brand that tries to do the responsible thing for the environment knows it’s also more expensive,” adds Crowell. “We believe in staying transparent about our practices, progress, and goals while always being receptive to new ideas. From products developed in conversation with our community to championing causes they care about, we know the most impactful thing we can do is use our platform to make real change.”

Complementing Saie’s climate conscious work, The Saie Way is a docuseries crafted by the brand in which each episode explores a different sector of its business, highlighting the brand's various climate-focused partnerships in each category. Episode examples include The Coral Crisis, created in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation, and The Plastic Waste Crisis, crafted alongside rePurpose Global.

“The Saie Way illustrates the journey of how Saie is unafraid of doing things a little differently to regulate themselves to be as earth-minded as possible. In such an unregulated industry, we wanted to be as transparent as possible with our community, and show that we are proud of the introspective work that we’re doing,” explains Crowell.

Revealed exclusively to BeautyMatter, the latest episode of The Saie Way docuseries, Circular Beauty, highlights the brand's partnership with Pact Collective, a nonprofit organization with a mission to unite the industry and give old beauty products a new life. In the episode, Carly Snider, Executive Director of Pact Collective, follows the life cycle of beauty products alongside the Saie team, showing consumers who is working behind-the-scenes to give beauty empties a new life.

“The industry’s superpower is that we're coming together to push a singular message on sustainable packaging and how we move towards a circular economy—Saie is a leader in having these climate conversations,” Snider tells BeautyMatter. “It’s amazing for Saie to have a seat at the table and support us in guiding this message, helping to push it out to the industry, consumers, and other stakeholders.”

The episode begins with Snider explaining that only a fraction of beauty waste is recycled, often due to complexities such as size and shape, contamination, and lack of consumer awareness. She then explains the correct way to clean out finished beauty products, instructing consumers to a guide on Pact’s website that walks through different product cleaning requirements.

“We’re focused heavily on education because we've identified a gap in knowledge,” Snider continues. “Recyling is so complicated—it's complicated for customers as well as the brands themselves.”

Snider then outlines Pact’s available online resources, which ask consumers questions to guide them on the best way to dispose of their beauty waste, making the process simple yet educational. She walks through Saie’s mail-back program in collaboration with Pact, which allows consumers to send their empties to the brand where they can be correctly disposed of once finished. Alternatively, Snider highlights Pact’s beauty drop off bins, available in over 3,200 locations across the US, such as in-store at Ulta Beauty and Sephora.

In the following scenes, Snider talks through the process of beauty recycling once Pact’s waste collections are sent to a third party. During this journey, products are separated by their material and sorted into groups that are shredded into flakes. Next, they are turned into large strands that can be cut up to create a material that can be melted and molded into new packaging by suppliers.

“We really want everyone to join us on this journey to learn more about sustainable choices as well as reduction and diversion of the packaging that we're creating,” says Snider. “That’s what’s really exciting about the video; it really gives customers and the industry a behind-the-scenes lens of what is happening with recycling. We know that this is a powerful vehicle to change behaviors and to boost participation in our collection program.”

Snider spotlights the strength of the docuseries, highlighting its video format, which appeals to consumers by giving them a visual insight into the recycling process. “People love the imagery. They love videos. We're digesting one-minute videos all day long, and Saie has recognized this, investing in the resources and energy needed to help us show our story,” she says.

More than just a call-to-action, the documentary episode explores the collaborative efforts between brands, consumers, and recycling innovators to create a circular future. By sharing behind-the-scenes stories and solutions, Saie and Pact Collective are challenging the industry to rethink beauty’s role in addressing the climate crisis, while collecting data that will further encourage changes in the sector.

“We’re approaching this perfect storm of action where we have policies coming into place like extended producer responsibility, tied with a strong consumer desire for change. Now we are beginning to see industry action to take responsibility for our packaging waste, all leading towards more investment and more movement in adopting more circular packaging models. We’re seeing pressure like we've never seen before, and I feel really optimistic on where beauty is heading,” Snider concludes.

The beauty industry’s waste crisis presents a significant environmental challenge, however through initiatives such as Saie and Pact Collective’s collaboration, there is a promising path forward. By putting education, transparency, and circular solutions at the front of consumer and industry members' minds brands can embrace a cleaner, greener future for beauty, creating hope that change is indeed possible, if the right steps are followed.