For the second year running, The Perfume Shop is proud to support The Great British Beauty Clean Up, a nationwide initiative uniting brands, retailers and professional hair and beauty salons to reduce waste across the industry. The campaign runs throughout the month, linking with Global Recycling Day (18th March) and the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste (30th March), with a simple call to action for customers everywhere: Refill. Reuse. Recycle.
In the UK around 59 million aftershave and perfume bottles are thrown away by households each year, and more than half of UK adults (53%) admit to putting their empty perfume bottles in the bin. While many perfume bottles are made from glass, components such as pumps and caps are often mixed materials, making them difficult to recycle at home. As a result, millions of bottles that could be recovered are lost to landfill or incineration, contributing to the wider issue of beauty packaging waste.
As the UK’s largest specialist perfume retailer, The Perfume Shop continues to expand its market-leading perfume bottle recycling service:
7,714 bottles have been recycled in 2026 so far by customers, a 234% increase from the previous year across all 210 Perfume Shop’s stores.
The Perfume Shop introduced upgraded and improved all units in 2025 which are now wooden models that are sturdier and have another section included for customers to place their used fragrance blotters in.
The Perfume Shop’s refillable range has grown from 113 SKUs (2024) to 155 (2026) – a +37% increase in two years.
Customers returning empty perfume bottles receive 15% off same-day in-store purchases.
The Perfume Shop creatively reuses returned bottles, incorporating them into chandeliers in stores or recycling them through sustainable partners.
Returned bottles are responsibly recycled through sustainable partners, and in some stores creatively repurposed into statement features. Alongside its recycling initiatives, The Perfume Shop continues its partnership with veritree, supporting global reforestation projects as part of its long-term sustainability commitments.
Gill Smith, managing director at The Perfume Shop, said: “Sustainability is an ongoing journey for us, it’s part of how we want to operate as a business. We know millions of perfume bottles are still being thrown away each year, so our focus is on making practical changes that feel easy for customers to take part in. If bringing a bottle back to the store or choosing a refill becomes second nature, that’s when real progress starts to happen.”
From 10th March – 31st March, customers are also encouraged to Recycle their empty fragrance for a chance to win a £1,000 refillable fragrance bundle.
For more information you can visit theperfumeshop.com/gbbc.
