British Beauty Council Launches ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’

The British Beauty Council’s Sustainable Beauty Coalition have launched a new initiative called ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’ which is a nationwide campaign that represents the first cross-industry effort to reduce the environmental impacts of beauty packaging. The Clean Up is designed to address the beauty industry’s mounting waste crisis and empower consumers to recycle, reuse and refill more effectively. So far, 21 leading retailers and brands have expressed interest in joining this initiative.

The campaign follows research from the British Beauty Council showing that 86% of plastic beauty packaging goes unrecycled, with only 14% of empties reaching recycling facilities and just 9% ultimately being recycled. At the same time, despite sustainability becoming a stronger influence on purchasing decisions, only 23.4% of consumers currently choose refillable skincare products.

The Great British Beauty Clean Up aims to educate consumers on how to correctly dispose of beauty empties, with clear guidance on which items cannot be placed in household recycling. These are:

• Small items (minis, samples, mascaras)
• Composite materials (make‑up palettes, compacts, lipsticks)
• Non‑recyclable packaging (toothpaste tubes, lotion pumps)

The British Beauty Council are revamping their interactive recycling map to help highlight the take-back schemes across the UK and helping shoppers locate drop-off points for difficult to recycle items.

The official launch of The Great British Beauty Clean Up will coincide with Waste Week (3 March – 9 March 2026). All beauty brands and businesses are encouraged to get involved – details for additional information and the access to the toolkit can be found here.