The British Beauty Council and its Sustainable Beauty Coalition (SBC) is calling on the industry to ‘clean up its act’ and fundamentally rethink its relationship with waste.
Returning on 2 March 2026, ‘The Great British Beauty Clean Up’ (GBBCU) is expanding its remit beyond recycling to drive a nationwide cultural shift toward reuse, refill, and the rescue of surplus stock from landfill and incineration. It is calling on brands, businesses, retailers, salons and other service providers to get involved.
While the campaign continues to tackle the industry’s packaging impact – where 120 billion units are produced globally each year – the 2026 initiative urges retailers, brands, and salons to prioritise keeping resources in circulation. The campaign champions a three-tiered approach: adopting refillable systems, donating usable surplus products to fight hygiene poverty, and repurposing hard-to-recycle materials.
Here’s how:
1. Leading the Cultural Shift: Reuse & Refill – With legislative momentum accelerating across the UK and EU which is making non-circular, single-use packaging increasingly expensive, the case for reusable packaging has never been stronger. The campaign calls on brands to promote reusable and refillable products to transition consumers away from a “discard” culture.
2. Stopping Product Waste: To prevent usable products from ending up in landfill, the GBBCU is spotlighting vital organisations such as This is Beauty, Beauty Banks, The Hygiene Bank and In Kind Direct, who work with brands and retailers to prevent surplus stock from being incinerated or sent to landfill. Brands can sell or donate surplus stock, discontinued lines, or products with slight packaging imperfections rather than destroying them.
3. Repurposing Packaging: For packaging that cannot be reused, the campaign promotes closing the Loop through “repurposing” waste. In partnership with MYGroup, the Council is promoting zero-landfill” and “zero-incineration” solutions for hard-to-recycle items like
compacts, mascara tubes, and pumps.
- Reimagining Waste: Partners transform these empties into entirely new materials, such as school furniture and building supplies.
- Trade Incentive: Supporters will receive 15% off the cost of a take-back box and collection service using the code BBCOMEMBER15.
Victoria Brownlie, chief of policy and sustainability at the British Beauty Council, says: “We can and must do better. With the industry accounting for one-third of all landfill waste, simply recycling is no longer enough. The 2026 Great British Beauty Clean Up is about reimagining waste completely. Whether it is donating surplus stock to companies like In KindDirect to help those in need, or using MYGroup to turn compacts into construction materials, we are asking the industry to think more purposefully about closing the loop when it comes to packaging.”
Oriele Frank, chair of the Sustainable Beauty Coalition, adds: “By promoting reusable and refillable products, businesses can lead a cultural shift toward packaging that is valued, rather than discarded. We are inviting brands, retailers, and salons to join us in March to reduce the amount of waste created by the beauty industry and build a brighter, better future for us all.”
Get Involved
Whether it’s getting involved in the British Beauty Council X MYGroup scheme , spotlighting your own take-back schemes and/or refill and reuse products on social media or simply amplifying campaign messaging, retailers, brands, salons and spas are all invited to take part.
The campaign will kick off on 2 March 2026 to align with Global Recycling Day (18 March) and the UN International Day of Zero Waste (30 March).
Last year, the campaign reached more than 160m people with more than 50 businesses committing, these included John Lewis, Cult Beauty, Josh Wood Colour and others. This year, the SBC is dedicated to expanding its reach to increase awareness, promote education
and incentivise better practice across the board.
Businesses can download the full Campaign Toolkit, which includes social media assets, window decals, and guides on implementing reuse and take-back systems, here. The British Beauty Council will be also directing consumers to available recycling takeback schemes across the UK via its interactive map.
