Harrods expands beauty recycling scheme to all H Beauty stores

Luxury department store Harrods is extending its beauty recycling scheme in collaboration with waste management company MyGroup to its five H Beauty stores across the UK, following a successful trial at its Milton Keynes location last year.

The scheme, which allows customers to bring used beauty, make-up and skincare products back to stores to be recycled in exchange for rewards through Harrods’ MyBeauty scheme, will be expanded to its stand-alone regional beauty H Beauty concept stores in Bristol, Edinburgh, Lakeside, and Gateshead.

With the British Beauty Council revealing that only 9 percent of cosmetic packaging finds its way into recycling through conventional household waste channels, the scheme offers consumers the chance easily recycle a huge range of products, such as compacts, mascara and eye shadow containers, as well as shampoo and skincare bottles, lotion pumps and vitamin bottles.

Customers deposit items in specially designed bins near the tills to gain rewards through the MyBeauty loyalty scheme. Returning five or more eligible used items is worth 500 bonus MyBeauty reward points.

Mia Collins, director of buying of beauty at Harrods, said in a statement: “Launching the H beauty recycling scheme's second phase on a wider scale stands as a pinnacle for Harrods and H beauty, emphasising our dedication to sustainable practices. MyBeauty Recycle and Reward scheme resonates with our loyal customers who are passionate about embracing a more eco-conscious lifestyle.

“Upholding our promise to minimise waste and increase recycling across the business, our collaboration with MYGroup remains pivotal in propelling this mission forward. Together, we're leading a transformative journey towards recycling and circularity in the beauty industry, in line with the Harrods brand commitment to responsible practices.”

All items deposited through the H Beauty scheme are collected and recycled at MYGroup’s dedicated UK-based facility in Hull, East Yorkshire, where the company has invested in a series of advanced technological processes, meaning both the packaging and inner cosmetic product can be fully extracted, recovered and recycled.

The packaging waste is either composted, re-purposed and returned to supply chains as raw material or manufactured into MyGroup’s unique solution for ‘unrecyclable’ plastic waste: Myboard, while cosmetic residue is recovered into bio-fuel.

During Harrod’s trial last year, 200 kilograms of beauty packaging and products were diverted from landfills and successfully recycled.