Since 2009, skin and hair care products company Kiehl’s Since 1851 has allowed consumers to return their empty bottles, tubes, and other containers to any one of their 54 freestanding stores in the U.S. for recycling or upcycling by TerraCycle. According to TerraCycle, Kiehl’s is the only beauty brand to collect used consumer packaging year-round at retail and recycle them with TerraCycle.
As part of the Kiehl’s “Recycle & Be Rewarded” program, store customers can select any product from Kiehl’s travel collection for every 10 full-sized product containers returned. Customers can keep track of their returns with a stamp card provided by the store. On a weekly basis, Kiehl’s ships the empty bottles they’ve collected to TerraCycle, where they are recycled into a variety of innovative new products.
“We only have one planet, and it’s important that we do our best to take care of it. I’m proud that at Kiehl’s we use eco-sustainable and repurposed materials at our stores; we only use external packaging when the bottle is glass, and we have an in-store recycling incentive program for our customers called Recycle & Be Rewarded,” says Chris Salgardo, President, Kiehl’s USA. “Encouraging customers to bring in their empty Kiehl’s bottles in return for free products has proved to be very successful, collecting over 1 million bottles since 2009! That said, collecting the items is only half the battle. TerraCycle has been an incredibly valuable partner to us. We’re thrilled that they’re able to upcycle and recycle Kiehl’s empty containers and repurpose waste into innovative products. Since 2009, Kiehl’s has collected and recycled over 1.3 million bottles.”
Through its free Brigade recycling programs, TerraCycle has diverted more than 2.5 billion pieces of trash from going to the landfill, and with its partners, donated more than $7 million to charity.
