Following a 50-store trial, the Recycle at Boots scheme has been expanded to a further 650 stores in the UK to encourage customers to take back hard-to-recycle empties.
The Boots trial saw customers drop off over half a million products in what recycling body OPRL says is now the most accessible beauty, health and wellness recycling scheme of its kind in the UK.
Customers get rewarded 250 Boots Advantage Card points (worth £2.50) to use in-store or online for every five products deposited. The top three products to be recycled so far are toothpaste, mascara and hand wash, with Colgate, No7 and Boots being the most recycled brands.
We are delighted with the reception the Recycle at Boots scheme has had – the reaction from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive
The empty products are sent to the retailer’s recycling partner, MYGroup, where they are transformed into new items such as reusable storage containers that are used at Boots warehouses.
“We are delighted with the reception the Recycle at Boots scheme has had – the reaction from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Lucy Reynolds, the retailer’s director of communications and CSR. “We’ve listened to their feedback and as a result are rolling the scheme out further, making it easier than ever for our customers to recycle their empty products that would usually go to landfill. From old mascaras and toothpaste tubes to finished lipsticks and empty vitamin pots – customers can feel even better about treating themselves with their Boots Advantage Card points knowing that their products can be recycled.”
Using ‘first-to-market’ Scan2Recycle technology, the scheme is the first on the UK high street to follow the transparency and accessibility criteria set by OPRL.
