Wondering what to do with your empty packages once you’ve used up your skincare, body and fragrance products? Luxury brand L’Occitane en Provence is providing consumers with a free way to recycle all brands of beauty and skin care packaging—and keep it out of landfills. Through the L’Occitane Recycling Program, in partnership with international recycling company TerraCycle, consumers can now drop off all brands of empty personal care and cosmetics packaging at participating L’Occitane full-price retail locations across the U.S. to divert these items from landfills and receive a 10% discount towards one full-size product purchased that same day.
 
Committed to traceability and transparency, L’Occitane says it aims to protect the planet though sustainable sourcing methods and supporting local communities. The L’Occitane Recycling Program aligns with these initiatives, helping to limit the amount of beauty and skin care packaging from entering the waste stream.
 
“From the creation of our formulas to the development of our packaging, including production and distribution, at L’Occitane we are continuously trying to limit our environmental impacts,” said Caroline Le Roch, commercial chief officer North America. “L’Occitane North America is proud to continue our partnership with TerraCycle for an eco-recycling program at 75 of our U.S. boutiques with a goal to reach many more by the end of 2018. We kicked off this program with the grand reopening of our Canadian Flagship boutique at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. We now have 13 participating boutiques in Canada and soon another 16 locations will be added there. We are excited for this continuation so that our U.S. customers are also able to get involved through recycling their empty beauty products at our participating boutiques.”
 
Once collected, the beauty and skin care packaging is sorted and separated by material composition. The separated items are then cleaned, shredded and made into new recycled products. To date, TerraCycle has diverted nearly 4 billion items from landfill and raised more than $15 million for charity worldwide.
 
“People who enjoy products that help them look and feel their best can now help the planet by recycling beauty and skin care packaging,” said TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky. “Thanks to companies like L’Occitane, consumers can enjoy their favorite goods while being rewarded for doing the right thing.”
 
The L’Occitane Recycling Program is open to any interested individual and launches in the U.S. on April 30th. Participation is completely free and easy: Find your closest participating L’Occitane store and bring in your used beauty and skin care products to be recycled. To learn more details and to find your closest participating store, please visit L’Occitane and TerraCycle


For more on environmentally responsible packaging in the beauty world, including take-back programs read this article in Beauty Packaging.