Online Exclusive: Lush’s Remarkable UK Recycling Project
Beauty brand Lush relies on UK eco-manufacturer Remarkable to recycle its black polypropylene cosmetic packaging.

Remarkable, a UK-based eco-manufacturer that specializes in creating products and packaging from

Remarkable inventor and founder Ed Douglas Miller

recycled and environmental materials, is working with fresh handmade cosmetics company Lush. This environmentally conscious retailer and product producer has chosen to outsource the recycling of its black plastic cosmetic pots from shops based in Northern England, to Remarkable, either for new pots or new products.

Remarkable was founded by the eco-inventor and environmentalist Ed Douglas Miller, who is dedicated to helping UK retailers become more environmentally responsible with their packaging and recycling of waste materials.

The team behind the major cosmetics company Lush is already committed to “closing loops” and reducing waste output in helping to safeguard the environment. This has involved Lush working closely with various packaging suppliers and local companies to reduce waste and find sustainable systems for the future.

According to Remarkable, the partnership with Lush is a perfect match, given that both companies hold the same values, namely that caring about the environment should be a top priority. Lush always prefers products to be displayed and sold unwrapped, with 46% of its products currently on the shelves being “naked,” allowing them to use fewer preservatives and less packaging in as many ranges as possible. The team at
Lush is always on the lookout for packaging alternatives that are sustainable for the future, and don’t waste material by incineration and landfill.

Packaging buyer, Maria Feast, from Lush explained: “When Lush does have to use packaging for

Lush black plastic product pots are washed, made into small plastic chips and melted back into new pots or used in new products.

cosmetic products we think carefully about the journey it undertakes, both in getting to us and when it leaves. Many councils don’t have a process in place to recycle all different types of plastics, however we do know that all plastics can be recycled; it’s just a case of finding someone with a system in place.”

Currently, polypropylene plastic (PP) is not recycled by all local authorities, which led Lush to approach Remarkable to see if the eco-manufacturer could help. This resulted in Miller inventing a whole system to use the Lush black plastic product pots as recycled stock for other packaging and as backing for promotional badges.

Lush continues to encourage its customers and staff to be more involved in their eco-values, and so created a scheme whereby any black product pots and plastic bottle tops are asked to be returned back to the stores once empty. These waste items are then distributed to either the Lush pot manufacturer in Poole, or the Remarkable eco-factory in Worcester, where they are washed, made into small plastic chips and melted back into new pots again for use in store.

Lush also ran a campaign to highlight the problems with plastics in the environment, which they hoped

One new use for recycled stock was a limited edition gift set called the Cyclist Repair Kit.

encouraged customers to get behind this “bring back” scheme. To further encourage the initiative, Lush promised to reward customers with a free bio-fresh face mask for the return of five pots to one of its stores.