Landman, Love Beauty and Planet’s global brand director. If the
labels stay put, those items are diverted to landfill, she says, “so we
worked with a partner that ensured the label comes off all the time
so every bottle can be recycled”. While recycling initiatives are
positive, they aren’t long-term solutions, says Vito Buonsante,
plastics program manager at Environmental Defence. “On the one
hand, they don’t prevent the creation of new waste. On the other
hand, they create a continuous need for new waste.” Buonsante
says the ideal scenario would be to transition to a model in which
companies collect the waste their products cause and create less
waste altogether by making products reusable or refillable.
This shift is already happening at the retail level. Earlier this year,
Lush, a pioneer in the packaging-free movement, doubled down
on its zero-waste goals, opening a third entirely-package-free store
(called the Naked Shop) in the UK, after launching in
Milan and Berlin. Though there aren’t immediate plans
to open a similar outpost in Australia, the concept is
beginning to resonate here, with Mecca now offering
sustainable packaging options for online orders, made
from fully recycled (and recyclable) materials. Local
retailer Biome, an entirely planet-focused store, has
plastic-free and zero-waste categories across multiple
brands. But the biggest news is Loop, a new waste-free
shopping program created by a coalition of companies
in the cosmetics industry — including Procter & Gamble
and Unilever — that’s being piloted in New York and
Paris. Much like the days when milk was delivered
in glass bottles to people’s doorsteps, when you order deodorant,
toothpaste or shampoo, you’ll pay a deposit for the bottle, and
when it’s finished it’ll be picked up by Loop, cleaned and refilled
for a new customer. Each stainless-steel package in the system is
designed for 100 or more uses. “Creating consumer change
is phenomenally difficult,” Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of
TerraCycle, a partner in the program, told Fast Company. “So the
first question we asked in developing the model was, ‘Why did
disposability win?’ I think because it’s convenient and affordable.”
Celebrated for its disposability, Montenier’s squeeze
bottle may have ushered in the era of plastic
packaging for beauty products, but the arrival of Loop
may just mean we will finally be able to say goodbye
to plastics altogether. EWords: Sarah Daniel; Kate Lancaster. Photography: Sevak Babakhani (still-life)
Other brands have partnered with global waste-management
company TerraCycle. For instance, Herbal Essences is working
with them to give plastics washing up on shores a second life as
100-per-cent-recyclable shampoo and conditioner bottles, while
Eos recently created a program where consumers can mail in
their empty lip-balm pots to be upcycled into park benches and
bike racks. Garnier also works with TerraCycle
and plans to only use recyclable packaging by- One big obstacle? Supply and demand.
Consumers need to recycle more. “The more
[consumers] recycle, the more plastic we have to
reproduce new bottles with,” says Garnier’s
global brand president Delphine Viguier-
Hovasse. While established brands are making changes to
meet consumer demands, brands like vegan body- and hair-
care line Love Beauty and Planet hit shelves with the eco-
friendly box already ticked. Its conditioners, for example,
feature fast-rinse technology, which means it disperses faster,
cutting down shower time. (The brand is also launching solid
shampoo bars in the near future.) It has even addressed details
like the label adhesive it uses on its recyclable bottles. “Fifteen
per cent of the labels on bottles don’t get removed,” says Molly
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