What can be recycled at home
These items below can usually be added to your recycling bin—if the cap is removed, and they’re rinsed completely clean of any product. To make sure that your packaging is free of residue, you may need to carefully cut it open and rinse it out.
1, #2 and #5 plastic containers that are larger than a yogurt cup**
Metal jars and bottles
Metal tubes
Clear or frosted glass bottles and jars
Cardboard boxes and paper
Aerosol cans
*If the cap and the container are made of the same material (i.e., a plastic jar with a plastic cap), rinse them clean, reattach them, and drop them in your recycling bin.
**#5 plastic isn’t accepted in some recycling programs—check your local guidelines to be sure.
What goes in the trash
These types of packaging are most likely not recyclable.
Sponges
Brushes
Single-use wipes
Plastic or foil safety seals
Nail polish*
.#3, #4, #6 and #7 plastic containers
*Nail polish should be disposed of through your local hazardous waste facility.
What to recycle through a program like Pact or Terra Cycle
These organizations process hard-to-recycle packaging to keep it out of a landfill. Check their websites for more information about their programs. Some beauty brands (like ILIA and Indie Lee) offer free in-house recycling for their products.
Caps from bottles, tubes, and jars
Squeezable tubes
Dropper caps
Containers smaller than a yogurt cup
Pumps, misters, and dispensers
Lipstick and lip balm bullets
Lip gloss, concealer, and liquid shadow tubes
Non-wooden eye, lip, and brow pencils
Mascara tubes
Compacts and palettes
Colored glass bottles and jars
Deodorant sticks.
You Should Be Recycling Your Beauty Products—10 Things You Need to Know
1. First, find out what can and can’t be recycled in your area.
Every city has its own rules when it comes to what is recyclable. Check your local government website to see the restrictions for your community. “Different communities accept different materials. It has to do with the materials recovery system that serves the community and the agreement that center has with that recycling collection program,” says Dorn. “It also has to do with the market that community sells those materials to and what those markets are able to accept.”
Generally, once your recyclables get picked up from the curb, they're sorted and sold to companies that do the actual recycling. A lot of America's plastics have historically gone to China, which has handled the recycling of about 45 percent of the world’s plastic since 1992, according to NPR. But since China stopped importing plastic from other countries in January, recycling in America is facing greater challenges.
2. Examine the labels on your products to see what’s recyclable.
There are a few context clues on the package that tell you if it’s recyclable or not. The paper and cardboard boxes that products come in are pretty much a sure bet, but look for the classic triangle with arrows symbol (which is called a Mobius loop) to be 100 percent sure.
But not every package with a Mobius loop is necessarily recyclable where you live. On plastic bottles, you’ll see a similar symbol that has a number inside: These numbers (one through seven) identify what type of plastic the package is made of. “If you look on the bottom of the container, the most recyclable plastics have a number one or two,” says Dorn. A number three denotes PVC, which Dorn describes as a particularly a problematic material to recycle. It belongs in the trash. As far as numbers four through seven, it depends on your local community rules. While some are accepted in curbside programs, others might have to be taken to a local recycling pickup point (like a grocery store).
Another symbol you might see is a dot that sort of looks like a yin-yang with arrows. That is an indication that the product is made of recycled materials. There also might be a Mobius loop with a circle around it, which also indicates that it’s made from some recycled materials. However, just because it’s made from recycled material doesn’t mean it can necessarily be recycled again, says Dorn. That’s why it’s important to know your numbers.
3. Often, small items can’t be recycled.
“A small-format container doesn’t flow well through curbside recycling program,” says Dorn. “Anything small like a lipstick case or under a 6-ounce package size will get screened out or caught in the disposal stream for that facility.” Most of the facilities that sort recycling are automated with optical and physical sorter machines. Little containers like lipstick tubes can get missed by sorting machines and thrown into the trash—and back into a landfill.
4. The color of the container matters.
“With respect to glass, clear, brown, and green are preferred for recycling programs,” says Dorn. “The odd-colored glass is more problematic to recycle, but it depends on what they are doing with that glass.” If it’s going to be crushed up for use in sandblasting machines (which use the glass to strip away rust on metal or to creative decorative finishes on glass), it doesn’t matter. But if it’s going to be sold back to a bottle manufacturer then only those three common colors are going to be in demand. Black plastic—think men’s body wash—is another tough material for material recovery facilities to handle because the optical sorters don’t recognize that color.
5. Pouches and squeezable tubes usually can’t be recycled.
Anything that is multilayer or multimaterial in format is challenging to recycle. That just means that there is a coating or film in the inside the package or the object is made up of different types of plastic. Certain flexible pouches (like resealable pouches with face masks) and toothpaste tubes are considered multilayer and should be thrown in the trash unless the package explicitly states that you can recycle it.
6. Pumps and droppers are also problematic.
Another recycling red flag is the pumps and droppers on top of bottles, which are often multimaterial. It’s good practice to remove the pumps from any bottle before recycling because they often have metal springs inside that you can’t see. Caps and screwtops, however, are usually fine—even if they aren’t the same material as the bottle or jar itself. (Just remember to put them back on before binning: A solo cap is too small to go through the sorting system and will end up in the trash.)
7. Don’t forget about the cans of dry shampoo and hairspray.
Most dry shampoo and hairspray cans are made of steel and aluminum, which are both recyclable. Of course, check with your local rules first to see if aerosol is accepted.
8. Yes, you do have to rinse out the bottles first.
I would be lying if I said that having to wash out a container before putting it in recycling wasn’t a significant deterrent. But it actually matters. Containers with product residue can attract bugs once they are at the facility, and dirty containers also lower the value of the finished recycled product (more on that later). You should also try to remove any labels on the bottle. “Labels can be a big deal in terms of what type of adhesive is used or whether a label is full wrap,” says Dorn. “If you can easily take the label off, do, but it’s not always an issue.”
9. Consider returning it to the brand.
As the beauty industry seeks to become more sustainable, many brands are starting internal recycling programs that offer rewards and discounts. For example, for every 10 full-sized Kiehl’s products you bring back, you get a free sample. MAC also accepts those lipstick tubes that are too small for the curbside program. Return six packages and get one lipstick free as a part of the Back to MAC program. Remember that thing about toothpaste tubes being a no-go? Well, both Colgate and Tom’s of Maine have recycling programs through TerraCyle, a company that specializes in hard-to-recycle waste. Garnier has also set up a program that allows you to return just about any packaging in your bathroom through TerraCycle. All you have to do is mail in your empties.
Plantioxidants also has a mail-back program, which Wadinski hopes will help fuel innovation to make recycling cosmetics containers easier in the long run. “Right now, there is no 100 percent post-consumer recycled pump,” he says. “What I’m hoping to do is recycle bottles into pumps for the future. It’s not difficult to melt plastic, use 3-D printing, and make recyclable pumps, but it’s going to take time on our end and investment to get the equipment ready.”
10. When in doubt, throw it in the trash.
“Wishful recyclers say, ‘When in doubt, put it in your container and hope for the best,’” says Dorn. But if something that is not accepted ends up at the facility, it can clog up the entire system. This human error is causing big problems in the recycling industry. Because consumers don’t know exactly what to do with some products (a problem I definitely identify with), sometimes things get mixed in that shouldn’t be there. Municipal recycling facilities often sell the materials they collect to other countries (like China) that do the actual recycling, turning your old bottle into post-consumer raw materials for manufacturers to make new stuff out of. When the facility’s bales of plastic are contaminated with non-recyclable materials or dirty bottles (see #8), it’s harder to sell and has less value. Or, the people at the plant have to physically remove these contaminants and the facility has to pay to get that material disposed of. “You’ve gone through the trouble of putting it in the recycling bin, but it ends up in the waste stream anyway,” says Dorn. “So, it’s best not to put it in there.”
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