The beauty industry’s waste problem is persistently discussed, and rightly so—the beauty industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging globally, accounting for one third of all landfill waste, with 56% of consumers revealing they do not recycle their bathroom products. With this in mind, the British Beauty Council has revealed the Great British Beauty Clean Up (GBBCU)—an initiative focused on informing and educating the public rather than encouraging brands to make more changes. The cleanup is a “first-of-its-kind” collaboration of retailers and brands designed  to reduce waste by increasing professional and consumer awareness via adopting reuse and refill systems.

The initiative was created by the Sustainable Beauty Coalition (a collective of sustainability experts from leading beauty brands such as Lush, Marie Claire, and Weleda UK in partnership with the British Beauty Council) to promote reduce, reuse, refill, and recycle practices, while encouraging consumer engagement in the responsible disposal of beauty packaging. The GBBCU was launched during Waste Week (March 3-9) and in alignment with  Global Recycling Day (March 18), and the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste (March 30).

“The beauty industry provides so much joy and self-confidence and is a source of expression for so many people, but this should not come at the cost of the planet," said Millie Kendall OBE, CEO of the British Beauty Council said. "The Sustainable Beauty Coalition has spearheaded moves by the industry to reduce our industry’s impact on the planet, and its new campaign is specifically designed to reduce the amount of beauty empties that end up in...