Today, Marks & Spencer has announced it has expanded its Beauty Takeback Scheme, in partnership with HANDLE, to an additional 60 stores across the UK bringing the total number to 100.
Dedicated beauty takeback scheme boxes are now available in new locations including Birmingham Bullring, Cardiff, and Inverness, making the scheme more accessible to more customers across the UK.
Launched in June 2023 as part of the retailer’s Plan A roadmap to Net Zero, the scheme enables customers to recycle any form of plastic or aluminium beauty packaging – from bottles and tubes to caps, pumps, and tubs – from any retailer, by dropping their used beauty packaging into dedicated boxes located within the store’s beauty section.
Since launching, the scheme has processed over 1.6 tonnes of beauty packaging – the equivalent of a small car – which otherwise might have ended up in landfill. As part of M&S’ ongoing partnership with HANDLE, this year, the retailer has produced a wide-toothed hair comb, made from at least 98% of the recycled packaging collected by M&S as part of their scheme with HANDLE. The comb will be available to purchase online and in selected stores for £8.
The partnership with HANDLE forms part of Plan A ‘Another life’, which brings together all the retailer’s circularity services into one place. From the Beauty Takeback Scheme with Handle, the new repair partnership with SOJO to its long-running clothes donation partnership with Oxfam, which was formerly known as ‘Shwopping’, all initiatives now sit together as part of Plan A – ‘Another Life’ to offer a more seamless experience for customers who are looking for ways they can support a shift to a more circular economy.
Katharine Beacham, head of sustainability, clothing & home at M&S, said: “At M&S, we want to play our part in driving a more circular economy and the circularity services we offer are key to this. Since launching last year, our Beauty Takeback Scheme has proven hugely popular, providing a convenient option for customers to recycle their beauty products. We’re delighted to be able to introduce the scheme to even more of our stores across the UK this month, to enable them to give their empty beauty packaging Another life.”
M&S’ Plan A approach to circularity is focused across two areas; in the way the retailer designs its products to ensure they are made well and made to last, and in the services it offers customers to give their items Another life.
