0 comments
Already a pioneer of environmental activism within the personal care industry, The Body Shop is now rolling out in-store refill services to 400 locations worldwide.
According to awareness campaign Zero Waste Week, over 120 billion units of packaging is produced by the cosmetics industry every year, most of which sadly isn’t recyclable.
More beauty companies are starting to think about how they can create and package their products in more ethically responsible ways, especially as Gen Z buyers begin to demand transparency and greater efforts to be mindful of waste and greenhouse emissions.
One such method is via refills, whereby consumers re-use packaging indefinitely to purchase a liquid or bottled product over and over again, rather than buying a single-use container every time they want a specific product. A popular brand that encourages consumers to do this, for example, is Starbucks – purchasing a ‘cup for life’ can offer numerous rewards and benefits, rather than using and wasting coffee containers unnecessarily.
Leading the charge in the beauty industry, The Body Shop is tapping into this growing consumer concern about the impact of single-use plastics by rolling out new, in-store refill services to 400 locations worldwide.
Launching tomorrow, these new stations seek to inspire people across the globe to change the way they use these products and introduce refills to the mainstream by making them easy, convenient, and accessible to everyone.
‘We want eco-activists to join our revolution and make it part of their new, more sustainable beauty lifestyle,’ the company said in a press statement. ‘Why waste a container when you can refill it?’
Though The Body Shop’s refill initiative isn’t new – shoppers can currently refill up to 12 of its shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, and soaps with reusable aluminium bottles – this international debut is the first of its kind. To date, the service has only been available in the UK.
The brand, owned by Brazilian personal care conglomerate Natura&Co says that making the switch could save up to 25 tonnes of plastic from being wasted every year. Impressive stuff.
