Make it last — Are You Among The 20 Percent Who Recycle Their Cosmetic Waste?
Are You Among The 20 Percent Who Recycle Their Cosmetic Waste?
by Make it last on 28 June, 2019
During this spring we’ve been working with KICKS on a specific issue – that of cosmetic waste. It’s been rewarding, because we’ve really learnt things we did not know before. And as it turns out, there’s quite a few people who, like us, aren’t sure what counts as cosmetic waste, what bathroom stuff should be sorted and recycled where, and where cosmetic waste goes. In a customer panel survey with nearly 1,500 participants, KICKS learnt that 66% don’t know how to sort their cosmetic waste and 50% don’t know where to take it.
So, what counts as cosmetic waste? Well, think of all cosmetic products that you haven’t used up, e.g. nail polish. At KICKS, you can submit the kind of products that they sell (although they don’t have to come from there), for example:
* Nail polish and nail polish remover
* Hair color or hair remover
* Spray cans for hair spray, deodorant, dry shampoo etc.
* Old or half-used cosmetics
At KICKS, the cosmetic waste is collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner. If you don’t live close to one, you can turn to your local recycle center that handles hazardous waste. Here’s a good list of places for those of you who live in Stockholm. Turn to your county to ask about your closest drop-off facility.
KICKS is currently expanding this initiative to other parts of Sweden, here’s the list of stores accepting cosmetic waste so far. By raising this question, and accepting cosmetic waste in stores, KICKS hopes to increase awareness – and raise that percentage of consumers who take care of their cosmetic waste in an environmentally sound manner.
Read more about KICKS’ initiative here.