I was leaving Walmart the other day, having bought my jars of pickles (very specific pickles only available at Walmart) and a watch battery. I actually hate shopping at Walmart. I hate the self-checkout area which feels a bit like a bull-ring. I hate the talking tills. The whole thing just... irks me. I just want out of there! As fast as possible.
But as I scampered past the optical department... and almost reached the customer service desk... I stopped dead in my tracks. What the heck was this box?
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| TerraCycle Cosmetic & SkinCare Recycling Box at Walmart |
Make-up recycling???!!! What the heck!? They have recycling for Cosmetics and Skincare products. Whooooaaaaaa...
Now let me first say that I don't use cosmetics or make-up. But I do use skin-care products like lotions... and lip balm... and deodorant... And it has always irked me that these containers are either very hard to recycle (washing out a lotion bottle?) or impossible (deodorant - too many different plastic types).
There was a QR code on the side of the box... I scanned it and it took me here... It's a TerraCycle project! I know them! They have a system to handle "hard-to-recycle" things... like toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes...
Walmart has partnered with TerraCycle and a few cosmetics companies (L'Oreal being a big one) to take back cosmetic and skincare containers. From ANY brand! Cool! OK... I might need to re-evaluate my opinion of Walmart... a little bit.
So here's a list of things that they take... I'm going to need another bin to collect this stuff at home...
What You can Recycle
- lip balm, lip gloss, lip liner and lipstick tubes
- soap dispensers and tubes
- lotion bottles, tubes, dispensers and plastic jars
- non-pressurized shaving foam tubes
- body wash containers
- mascara tubes
- eyeliner pencils and cases
- eyeshadow packaging
- concealer tubes
- foundation packaging and bottles
- powder cases
What You Can't Recycle
- perfume (presumably because it has alcohol - flammable)
- nail polish bottles (same thing... highly flammable)
- nail polish remover bottles (same... extremely flammable)
- pressurized canisters (including aerosol cans) (explosive)
- sharps (including razors) (dangerous)
Excellent news! Kudos to Walmart and... wait a minute... I was doing some background reading and... London Drugs is also doing this. And has been for YEARS!
Well... not quite... yes, London Drugs has been recycling cosmetics for several years but NOT skincare products (like lotion bottles). So the Walmart box is more inclusive...
And to be honest... I've never seen a make-up recycling box at London Drugs. Mind you... I don't really go into the make-up section but I have definitely walked by it at various times. And never, ever has a recycling box (and they are big!) impinged on my radar.
Walmart has a good location for theirs... as you exit the store, where people are most likely to see it. Alright... I am going to have to make up a list (make up... make-up... hahahah!) of recyclable skin care/cosmetic products and pay more attention before I throw a lip balm in the garbage... or a lotion bottle.
Although... I still want to know about deodorant... it is not on the accepted list... but neither is it on the reject list. To recycle it... or not... I think I will add it to the bin and take it along next time
And... I just did a search for deodorant and recycling and came across the Beauty Vixen's blog post... apparently there are a swack of other stores that also do beauty recycling including Hudson's Bay, L'Occitane en Provence, Winners and Holt Renfrew. There appear to be size limitations though on some of them (less than 60 ml, under 2 inches by 2 inches, etc). Although... some even accept shampoo bottles!
Well then... now we know. Any and all beauty and skin care products (minus the flammable stuff) can be recycled via either TerraCycle or Pact (another outfit like TerraCycle). Just look for the boxes... or ask at the front desk...
So... don't toss your lip balm, your lotion bottle or your foundation container. Recycle instead.
Still need to work on the dentist to sponsor a TerracCycle dental products box... will try emailing them again...
More Resources
TerraCycle's page on cosmetic recycling
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