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The Great British Beauty Clean Up: beauty picks with recyclability in mind
Written byH&B editorial team
Reviewed byHeeral Tomlinson
Finished your favourite beauty products? Give your skincare and makeup empties a new lease of life at H&B
Our top picks
24-hour freshness
Wild
WILD Fresh Cotton & Sea Salt Natural Deodorant Refill 40g
€7.80
Volumising formula
Noughty
Noughty Get Set Grow Thickening Shampoo 250ml
Buy 1 Get 1 Free
€11.70
Cold-pressed for quality
Fushi
Fushi Fresh-Pressed Organic Black Cumin Seed Oil 100ml
€18.99
That mascara that's gone gunky. The tube of cleanser you’ve scraped every last swipe out of. It’s time for them to go, but where? The thing is, some of the nation’s favourite beauty picks aren’t suitable for household recycling and might even affect whether the rest of your recycling gets processed properly.1
That’s why we’re joining the Great British Beauty Clean Up (GBBCU) throughout March and offering two simple solutions. Bring any of your beauty empties into a participating H&B store and we’ll recycle them safely for you. And then, once it's time to stock up, you could even make the switch to some of our outstanding makeup and skincare products that are A-OK to recycle at home. Here’s to a cleaner future of beauty...
Beauty products with recyclability in mind
Tired of throwing away another spray can? Slot your Wild refill into their snazzy metal applicator and you’ve got a deo-applicator for life. Their plastic-free refills come in a range of scents, from Honey & Cactus Flower to Cherry Blossom – we've chosen Fresh Cotton & Sea Salt for that straight-off-the-washing-line feeling. When your refill’s run out, just recycle the cardboard packaging and pop in a new refill. The hardest part’s picking out the scent...
You grab a coffee to perk up – but what about using it in your skincare? UpCircle’s brightening under-eye cream uses coffee oil made from coffee grounds and is designed to hydrate and soothe sleepy-looking eyes. Cucumber extract softens dry skin, while hyaluronic acid locks in moisture for a brighter-looking glow.2,3 Use a clean, dry finger to apply around the contour of your eye morning and night. Then get ready to look refreshed and awake (even if you don’t feel it).
Hair calling out for more volume? It could be time to get Noughty. Their thickening shampoo is part of the Get Set, Grow range and is enhanced with AnaGain™, a pea sprout complex scientifically proven to support the hair growth journey for fuller and thicker-looking hair. The scalp-stimulating cleanser also contains hyaluronic acid to help lock in moisture.4,5,6 Use as you would your normal shampoo – apply to wet hair and rinse thoroughly. For best results, double cleanse and follow with the Get Set, Grow Conditioner.
One of the best ways to reduce clutter? A multi-purpose product. Enter Fushi’s 100% cold-pressed and unrefined black seed oil as a hair and skin staple... and you can even drizzle it over your salads.
Also known as nigella seeds or black cumin, black seeds are thought to be rich in antioxidants and have been historically used in skincare and as a scalp and hair oil.7,8 Fushi’s oil uses naturally sun and air-dried ingredients to help preserve its nutrients and quality – plus it comes in a stylish glass bottle that’s perfect for upcycling once you’re done.
Beauty recycling FAQs
The Great British Beauty Clean Up is run in March by the Sustainable Beauty Coalition, formed by the British Beauty Council – a not-for-profit organisation pledging to ‘future-proof’ the beauty industry.9 The beauty industry produces around 120 billion units of packaging each year. But 95% is discarded after a single use, only 9–14% is recycled and around 70% ultimately ends up in landfill.10 So, what’s a beauty lover to do? As well as recycling existing products, it’s about cleaning up the future of beauty. The GBBCU aims to:
- create lasting ways to keep ‘hard-to-recycle' items out of landfill and into more renewable routes like take-back schemes
- amplify the voices of brands doing their bit
- help consumers make conscious choices
- campaign with policymakers to make recyclable beauty the norm
Just head into one of our participating stores and look for the Great British Beauty Clean Up bins:
- Manchester Market Street
- Birmingham Bull Ring
- Marble Arch
- Tottenham Court Road
- Cardiff Queen Street
Pop your empty products into the bin and you’re done – we’ll take care of the rest. That’s one less item heading to landfill!
Almost any empty beauty, skincare or bath and shower product that’s hard to recycle at home. That might include (but isn’t limited to) perfumes, mascara tubes, pill packets, makeup palettes, concealer tubes, nail varnish bottles, lipsticks and glosses. If you have any doubts, our store signs and Wellness Champions will be there to help.
Look for the Provenance claims online to find products with independently verified sustainability claims, from recyclable and reusable packaging to recognised certifications. That way, you can shop what matters most to you.
- Consider switching to products you can recycle in your kerbside recycling
- Gift, share or donate any products you won’t use to reduce waste
- Consider buying refill packages and putting them into reusable bottles (no need to be fancy – you can reuse one you already have)
- Support brands taking part in the Clean Up, whether that’s buying from them or just showing some love on social media
- Your favourite brand isn’t as recyclable as you’d like? Drop them a (friendly) DM
The final say
Finished your favourites? You'll be doing your bit by bringing your empties along on your trips to H&B. And thanks to initiatives like the Great British Beauty Clean Up, hopefully the future will make cleaner beauty easier than the blink of a mascara-coated eye. If it’s time to stock up on your beauty staples, consider our top products from women-owned brands or check out more from UpCircle, Noughty, Fushi and Wild...
Disclaimer – This article provides informational advice and is not a substitute for medical care. Working with experts for accuracy, we take great care to ensure the information is up-to-date and relevant. However, you should always consult your GP or healthcare professional before using supplements or alternative products, particularly if you have medical conditions or are under supervision.
1. Lesswaste. Contamination in Recycling [Internet]. Lesswaste [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://www.lesswaste.org.uk/recycle/contamination-in-recycling/
2. European Commission. Characteristics [Internet]. European Commission [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/details/34315
3. European Commission. Characteristics [Internet]. European Commission [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/details/55603
4. European Commission. Characteristics [Internet]. European Commission [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/details/34315
5. European Commission. Characteristics [Internet]. European Commission [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/details/36604
6. British Association of Dermatologists (BAD). Seborrhoeic dermatitis [Internet]. BAD [reviewed 2023 Jan; cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://www.bad.org.uk/pils/seborrhoeic-dermatitis
7. Dermatology.org.uk. Black Seed Oil for Skin [Internet]. Dermatology.org.uk [reviewed 2025 Feb 16; cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://dermatology.org.uk/black-seed-oil-for-skin/
8. European Commission. Characteristics [Internet]. European Commission [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/details/77426
9. British Beauty Council. Take-back and recycling points [Internet]. British Beauty Council [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://britishbeautycouncil.com/recycling-points/
10. The Industry Beauty. Billions of beauty packaging goes unrecycled every year [Internet]. The Industry Beauty [reviewed 2024 Jun 20; cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available from: https://theindustry.beauty/billions-of-beauty-packaging-goes-unrecycled-every-year
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