- Target:
- Both prestige and drugstore cosmetics companies, nationally and globally
- Region:
- United States of America
According to earth911.com, "Recycling one ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space." Furthermore, 25 percent of all landfill space is occupied by plastics. Cosmetics companies oft times use gratuitous amounts of plastic to contain their products, and offer no alternatives or information to consumers on how to properly dispose of them. While many just assume that the concerned consumer will dismantle these products in order to find a relatively hidden plastic resin code (if one exists), others do not even know if their product is recyclable or what plastics are used to compose it.
This lack of accountability perpetuates both company and consumer ignorance, and leads to more landfills being occupied with these casings, when in fact, many of them are recyclable.
Companies whose products are recyclable, and those that are making the concerted effort to make them so, have no recycling initiatives of their own, and furthermore do not have any campaigns advertising their recyclability on either the product packaging or their websites. Doing so would inform and encourage the average consumer to proactively recycle their casings at no loss or detriment to these companies.
However, many companies whose packaging is not recyclable are making no efforts to rectify this.
For these reasons, we, the undersigned concerned cosmetics consumers, request that cosmetics companies assume responsibility and commit to the following steps:
1) KNOW your product packaging, including its composition and recyclability (including visible and easily accessible resin codes).
Many companies are unaware of the recyclability of their own packaging because they do not know their composition, and make no efforts to look into this information for the concerned consumer. In remaining ignorant, it only propagates the wastefulness of these companies, and in turn, the consumer. Moreover, it is common practice to hide these resin codes under heavy glue and metal plates, which the average consumer who does not depot or dismantle the casings would not otherwise see.
2) Make the necessary steps to MAKE YOUR PACKAGING RECYCLABLE.
This step includes both containers, as well as paper packaging.
3) Move to MAKE YOUR PACKAGING FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS.
In the long run, if companies move to use recycled materials (such as recycled paper and recyclable plastic casings) instead of cheap, unrecyclable plastics, aside from helping the environment, they could stand to save money and potentially pass the savings onto their customers.
4) Begin RECYCLING AND/OR INCENTIVE PROGRAMS to a) inform and b) encourage consumers to recycle through your company.
MAC’s Back 2 MAC (B2M) program is a successful incentive program that encourages consumers to return six empty containers in exchange for their pick of one lipstick, or in some cases a lipgloss or eye shadow. This allows them to recycle their containers and encourage customers to do the same, while being mutually advantageous. Similar programs wherein companies offer discounts, coupons, or even free products for recycling would be invaluable. However, if this is not a reasonable option for certain companies, then they should, at the very least, offer information regarding their packaging’s composition, as well as ways to properly recycle their containers, be it through the companies themselves or local recycling facilities, on their packaging and/or websites.
We request that all cosmetics companies adhere to all of the abovementioned proactive steps to ensure the most productive, least harmful expenditure of their products. While some companies may already comply with some of these steps, we hope that each company will take the necessary steps to follow all of the steps in both recycling and facilitating (or making campaigns encouraging) the proper ways to recycle their products.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Cosmetic Companies Recycling Initiative petition to Both prestige and drugstore cosmetics companies, nationally and globally was written by Shannon and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.