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Stacy Savage, founder of Zero Waste Strategies, shares how to do makeup recycling right and avoid contributing to landfills.
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When it comes to environmental impacts, the beauty industry has a bad rep. Out of the estimated 120 billion units of packaging produced yearly, most of it becomes plastic waste. This is due in part to the fact that most beauty packaging isn’t recyclable, and most people don’t recycle bathroom products.
Thankfully, beauty retailers like Sephora are partnering with organizations focused on recycling hard-to-recycle containers and packaging. And, experts, environmental activists, and advocates are sharing the steps we can all take to buy, reuse, and recycle our favorite beauty products responsibly. One of these experts is Stacy Savage, founder and CEO of Zero Waste Strategies, who has answered our most pressing questions about makeup recycling and disposing of cosmetics the right way.
Are makeup containers recyclable?
Well, yes and no. While many of these items are technically made from recyclable materials like PET (#1) or HDPE (#2) plastics, their small size, mixed materials, or tricky shapes often mean they don’t get accepted in the curbside bin at your home or apartment.
For example, mascara tubes usually have a mix of plastic, metal springs, and rubber seals that recycling facilities can’t easily separate. Lotion tubes are often multilayer laminates (plastic plus foil), which also complicate recycling. So even though the resin code on the bottom might say “#2 HDPE,” the reality is that most municipal systems can’t process them due to their size and/or material composition, so these end up in landfills or incinerators.
What do those numbers in chasing arrows mean?
Those little resin identification codes (RICs), which are the numbers from 1 to 7 inside the chasing-arrows triangle, tell you what type of plastic the item is made of. They do not indicate if that plastic is recyclable or not in your local recycling program. So, you always want to check with your city’s local program for what types of plastics are allowed in the recycling bin.
For instance, “1” means PET (clear soda and water bottles), “2” is HDPE (opaque milk jugs and laundry detergent containers), and so on up to “7,” which covers all the oddballs (like mixed plastics). They don’t guarantee curbside acceptance, but they give you a hint: 1 and 2 are the most widely recycled, 5 (polypropylene, like small yogurt cups) is gaining ground in the recycling world, and 3, 6, and 7 are the least likely to be recycled at local processing plants. By checking the code before you buy, you can favor items in 1, 2, or 5, and avoid the trickier plastics that are most likely to become waste.
What is the most sustainable packaging material?
In theory, paper and aluminum win on circularity. Paper is easily recycled and often comes from responsibly managed forests (look for the sustainable forest label on the package), while aluminum is infinitely recyclable with minimal quality loss.
Glass is also endlessly recyclable but is heavy to ship and breakable. Plastic has the lowest recycling rates and the highest risk of ending up in nature, which can splinter into microplastics over time.
If you have the choice, look for well-designed paper or cardboard compacts (ideally with a biodegradable lining rather than a plastic lining), or aluminum tins that you can return or drop off in a metal-only recycling program. Glass can work too—just keep in mind the carbon footprint of shipping heavier jars.
What’s the most sustainable way to dispose of popular makeup items?
- Mascara tubes: Look into TerraCycle’s beauty recycling programs. You collect empty tubes, send them in, and they’re broken down for remanufacturing.
- Eyebrow pencils: When they’re wood-based and fully sharpened, the shavings and stub can go in compost (if the wood is untreated). Otherwise, again, TerraCycle or similar take-back is your best bet.
- Eyeshadow compacts & lipstick tubes: If compacts have metal mirrors or metal parts, disassemble if you can—separate the small plastic shell and place in the trash. The metal mirror may be recyclable and should go into the recycle bin.
The key is to look for brand take-back initiatives before you purchase, such as Nordstrom, Sephora, MAC, Lush, and Ulta.
What should we do with sticky labels?
If they’re paper labels on a glass jar, soak the jar in warm, soapy water so the labels will peel off, then you can recycle the clean glass. For plastic or mixed-material labels that leave behind adhesive residue, use a bit of cooking oil rubbed on the sticky spot to lift the residue, rinse, and then recycle. Removing labels helps ensure that the container gets processed by the recycling facility.
What should we do when a container cannot be recycled?
First, ditch the plastic by swapping it out where you buy refills or solid bars (shampoo bars, solid lotions) that eliminate the plastic container entirely. Second, see if any local specialty recyclers accept it for takeback recycling. Third, consider upcycling – turn a lotion bottle into a planter or small jars into organizers for small office desk supplies, such as tacks, staples, and paper clips. And finally, pressure your favorite brands by asking them to adopt refill stations or take-back programs. Collective Consumer pressure can drive system-wide change and it’s as easy as an email, a tweet, or a customer service phone call.
Are refillable makeup products actually sustainable or just greenwashing?
Refillable products can be genuinely sustainable—if the refill mechanism is robust, durable, and reduces overall material use. The best examples use high-quality aluminum or stainless-steel shells you keep for years, then swap in small paper or thin-plastic cartridges. But watch out: some brands tout “refillable” yet you still toss a bulky plastic tray each time, which negates the ecological benefit. To avoid greenwashing, look for refill systems with clear data: how much material is saved per refill, what’s the material composition of both shell and refill, and whether the refill itself is recyclable or compostable.
What mascara do you buy, and how do you dispose of the container?
Personally, I’ve used Maybelline brand mascara since I was 15 years old and changing brands now might feel sacrilege to this GenXer. Maybelline has a “Conscious Together” program that partners with TerraCycle for recycling beauty packaging. Once I’ve used it up, I then pop it into my TerraCycle beauty mail-in bag. They take it from there, breaking it down into its component plastics and metals and turning it into new raw materials. It’s a small step, but collectively we can keep tons of small, plastic packages out of landfill and our oceans.
