Convened by The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA), a roundtable took place in November 2021 to discuss cosmetic packaging take-back schemes. These would cut down on waste, with consumers returning product packaging to dedicated collection points.
Related: European Regulatory Update; Greenwashing, Endocrine Disruptors and PFAS
Amongst the key stakeholders, the roundtable brought together resources and waste minister at Defra, Jo Churchill, MP, Defra officials, representatives from WRAP UK, OPRL, Flexible Plastic Fund and Terracycle, along with industry representatives and other cross-sector organizations representing other brands and retailers.
While the cosmetics industry is working toward reducing or removing unnecessary packaging, and the adoption of reuse and refill models where appropriate, the CTPA noted the challenge of certain types of cosmetic packaging not being recycled must be addressed.
While CTPA members have or are considering take-back schemes, the association recognizes that with a more industry-wide approach, the awareness of such schemes and quantity of packaging recovered can be increased and maximum value added to the material that is recovered.
CTPA teamed up with the Recycle Now team at WRAP to add cosmetic packaging terms onto its Recycling Locator tool, aiming to increase the number of cosmetic brands that are highlighting this opportunity to their consumers and encouraging this form of recycling for currently unrecycled cosmetic packaging.
According to the company, the Recycling Locator Tool is already up and running with brands, adding locations for their schemes.
See related: No Eco-scuses; Packaging Can Conform with Natural Tenets
