When it comes to beauty products, recycling your empties isn't always as easy as it should be. Where I live black plastic isn't allowed, neither are refill pouches. I have no clue what happens to pumps or sprays. All of this has lead me to recycling most of my beauty, body care and hair care empties at stores that have their own recycling programs. They all differ though and allow different things. It is a confusing mess, which is why I am doing this post. I am going to show you where you can go in Canada to recycle your beauty products. Who does it, what they take and what to expect.
First off, there are two companies that offer recycling services for the stores, Terracycle and Pact. Even with that, they all have very different restrictions and requirements for recycling. So, let us take a look at what each retailer accepts and doesn't.
L'Occitane En Provence
L'Occitane is one of the first retailers in Canada to offer a recycling program. They pretty much take any product type that they would sell (although from any brand). You'll also get 10% off one product purchased the same day as your recycling drop offs (great perk).
Since I first posted, L'occitane switched from Terracycle to Pact for their recycling. With that comes new rules. That being said, the rules part of their site is blank and any Pact link goes to their generic site rules. The QR code, well that takes you to the L'occitane US loading page, so not helpful at all.
From what I can tell, they require cleaned out products now, them to be dry and not in a bag. They take a bit more beauty items, but also have much smaller size regulations (just like other stores using Pact), such as jars can not be larger than a fist. I used to bring all my body products there, but the bottles will no longer be accepted due to size. I am glad they take refill pouches, this is one item I struggle to find a way to recycle and since they sell them, it is great.
L’Occitane accepts all the below product, as long as it’s clean and empty:
- Plastic bottles + jars smaller than a fist
- Plastic + aluminum squeezable tubes
- Ceramic + porcelain containers
- Colored glass bottles + jars (varies heavily by location; check locally)
- Caps + closures
- Pumps + dispensers
- Droppers + applicators
- Compacts + palettes
- Lipstick/lip gloss tubes + applicators
- Mascara tubes + wands
- Plastic pencil components for eye/lip liner + brow pencils
- Silicone containers
- Pouches
To learn all you can, here is the L'Occitane link and their US link, which actually gives the guidelines here.
Hudson's Bay
Hudson's Bay aka The Bay, North America's oldest retailer has a pretty great program offered through Pact. You can drop off almost any cosmetic product or skin care, from any brand with some conditions. The skin care or other products have to be under 60 ml in size. Which eliminates almost all body and hair care packaging that is not travel size. You can give them pumps, caps, lip glosses, mascaras, etc. You will also get 1000 Hudson Bay Reward points for every 5 items you bring in.
Items accepted for recycling:
- Mascara tubes
- Lip product tubes
- Makeup pencils, sticks & caps
- Foundation/concealer tubes, bottles & jars
- Foundation pumps & caps
- Compacts & palettes
- Bottles, tubes, dispensers & plastic jars less than 60 mL
- Dropper tops
- Extruded glass, like small sample vials
- Body wash & lotion dispenser pumps
- Shampoo & conditioner caps & pumps
- Travel-size hair styling bottles, tubes & caps
- Fragrance bottles
- Aluminum tubes
- Toothpaste tubes & toothbrushes
- Nail polish & nail polish remover
- Beauty sponges
- Aerosol cans
- Hair & skin care tools
I have dropped a bunch of old makeup there, lots of mascaras and lip gloss tubes.
You can use their location finder and see a bit more information on right here.
L'oreal Paris / Recycling in Beauty
Items accepted for recycling:
Ok, so this is an odd one. The Ordinary / Deciem stores have these boxes in them for recycling, but absolutely no information at on them. Not what they take, what they don't, not who runs it. I read something about it a few years back and now cant find it at all. The more sleuthing I do, the more it seems like they were working with Terracycle, and that partnership is now over.
- Plastic and glass tubes, pots, pumps, sprays, and jars
- Lipstick, lip balm, and lip gloss tubes, cases, and caps
- Mascara tubes
- Eyeliner pencils and cases
- Eyeshadow and bronzer cases
- Foundation packaging
- Powder cases
- Eyeshadow and concealer tubes and sticks
Items not accepted for recycling:
- Perfume, nail polish bottles, nail polish remover bottles, pressurized canisters (including aerosol cans), organics, broken glass, bio-medical waste, diapers, medication, sharps (including razors), and electronic devices.
I generally take my skincare empties and things like foundation bottles to Walmart for recycling. I had a hard time finding the box the first time I went, but once I learned it was by the customer service, I had no issue finding it at any other Walmarts since.
There Terracycle site has more info on where you can find a L'oreal recycling location, click here to see more.
UPDATE: Since January I have updated this post 3 times. I do not know what is going on with this program and neither does Terracycle or Walmart. Some stores have bins, some don't. All bins I found are blocked off, tapped up, or full...like FULL. No employees seem to know what is going on in the stores. To make matters worse the site lists all locations as currently having bins. I spent one day going to 5 stores, by bus and had to take my 9 months worth of empties home with me.
I emailed Terracycle and they spent months trying to sort it out. They have no answers either. If you go to a store with a bin, that is great, use it.
That being all said, it looks like London Drugs and Jean Coutu all are still cooperating with the system, I can't verify this as I live in Ontario.
Holt Renfrew x Terracycle
Holt Renfew is an upscale department store that has an extensive beauty department. Their recycling department is run though Terracycle. They take all brands, most products that local recycling will not and the products don't have to be cleaned out first.
Items accepted for recycling:
- Beauty product packaging including compacts, concealer sticks & tubes, eyeliner & lip pencils, foundation bottles & tubes, lipsticks & balms, and mascara.
Items not accepted for recycling:
- Sharp and flammable items, aerosol cans, fragrance bottles, nail polish bottles, and nail polish remover bottles.
I have brought my empty makeup containers to the store, If you want to see more about the program or a store locator, you can find it on the program's Terracycle page here.
Winners Beauty Collection Program
Winners has added a boxes to their beauty areas. Their program is run through Pact. It is very similar to Hudson's Bays, as they only take items 60 ml and smaller. There are some other differences, such as they take makeup palettes and metal tubes. Items must be empty, clean and dry before drop off.
Items accepted for recycling:
- Containers
- Plastic bottles and jars smaller than 60 ml.
- Ceramic and porcelain jars
- Coloured glass bottles and jars
- Compacts and palettes
- Tubes
- Plastic and aluminum squeezable tubes (including toothpaste)
- Mascara tubes and wands
- Lipstick and lip gloss tubes and applicators
- Other
- Caps and closures
- Pumps and dispensers
- Droppers and applicators
- Makeup pencils, sticks and caps
Items not accepted for recycling:
- Containers
- Plastic bottles and jars larger than 60 ml.
- Clear or frosted glass bottles and jars
- Stainless steel or aluminum bottles and jars
- Cardboard and paper
- Aerosol cans
- Plastic bags and wrappers
- Other
- Beauty sponges and brushes
- Nail polish and nail polish remover
- Hair and skincare tools
- Toothbrushes
I haven't taken anything to one of these yet, because I've only seen it once. I thought my Marshall's would have it, but learned it is only for Winners locations.
The program is at select Winners only, and the website doesn't show you which ones, but you can learn more on the Winners' website here.
The Ordinary / Deciem
The below Instagram post is all I can find on it now. I am assuming, you can bring back any of their product packaging to the store.
Sephora + Pact
Sephora is the latest store to enter the recycling game and they're doing it with Pact. There are a lot of items they take, and a lot they do not. Items have to be cleaned out to be recycled here. They also have to be less then 2 x 2 inches in size, which man that is small if you are taking palettes.
Items accepted for recycling:
- Must be 2x2 inches or smaller.
- Plastic
- Small Tubes, Bottles, Jars, Caps
- Lipstick, Lip Gloss, and Mascara Tubes, Wands, and Applicators
- Eyeliner, Brow, and Lip Pencils -Pumps, Dispensers
- Coloured Glass
- Small Bottles, Jars
- Mixed Materials
- Palettes, Compacts, Pumps
- Dental Floss Containers
- Toothpaste Tubes
Items not accepted for recycling:
- Items accepted through your local curbside recycling program, which may include: plastic packaging larger than 2x2 inches, clear or frosted glass bottles and jars, and more.
I haven't taken anything back yet, I actually had a hard time finding the box, it was behind the online order pickup stand.
There is a much larger list of details on both the Sephora and Pact sites. You read them here and here. If you are still confused (as I was) there is a guide that will help you sort out if Sephora will take it back. See it here.
Summary
We've come a long way in just a few years. We may have lost programs like The Body Shop and Mac, but gained so many more. I did my best to understand everything every companies websites and boxes have said. They may have changed. I personally have struggled to clean out my containers. I had a sunscreen completely clog up my sink when I tried to wash it out.
Terracycle has a lot of other programs that are run through the mail, such as Gillette, Burt's Bees, Wellda and Living Proof. I recommend you taking a look and see if a program fits your lifestyle. I'm personally rounding up old razor blades and razor handles to send back for recycling.
It seems most stores as of 2024 are using Pact for their recycling, which is really size restrictive. 60 ml or less at The Bay and Winners, 2" x 2" max size at Sephora (like what can you even recycle then?), smaller than your palm at L'occitane. I just don't like it to be honest. I will probably be removing pumps and sprayers from bottles and be just dropping those off at their stores.
You can check out Pact's guidelines and their interactive flowchart that tells you where to dispose of your empties (spoiler alert, probably the trash) here.
I hope this post helped you sort out what to do with your empties. I am pretty much always bringing things in for recycling now, I just don't trust things like pumps and sprays will get dealt with properly otherwise.
