It’s no secret that the world is experiencing a sustainability crisis.

Far too much waste is littering our oceans and natural spaces, plus landfills are bursting at the seams.

Unless we make some huge changes, our planet is going to suffer very negative consequences.

Plastic is one of the main offenders when it comes to landfill waste. And plastic features very heavily in beauty industry packaging.

Recyclable packaging will help the beauty industry take huge leaps forward in environmental impact.

Here at summer + bloom, we are excited to introduce recyclable refills to our range. Inspired by this, we thought we’d explore just how much impact plastic packaging is having and what we can do to reduce this impact. So, let’s dive in!

The Positive Impact Recyclable Packaging Has On The Beauty Industry

The Plastic Problem

The average New Zealander produces 31kg of plastic packaging waste every year and only 5.58kg of that is recycled. That means the rest heads straight to landfill - around 252,0000 tons of it annually.

That is simply not sustainable for our planet. Plastic does not biodegrade. It can take over 400 years for its integrity to weaken and even then it never fully degrades, it simply disintegrates into smaller pieces. That means every piece of plastic that has ever been created and gone to landfill still exists on earth and will for evermore.

Unfortunately, the beauty industry is a huge offender when it comes to creating plastic waste. Most beauty products are packaged in plastic. And it is thought that beauty packaging amounts to 120 billion units of waste worldwide every year. 95% of beauty packaging is thrown out after one use and only 14% of plastic makes it to a recycling centre.

It is up to us all to do better. And that is our plan here at summer + bloom. We already operate under small batch sustainable practices and now we are introducing recyclable refills for four of our most popular products!

What Is Recyclable Packaging?

Lots of beauty packaging comes in mixed forms - companies use different materials like paper, metal, plastic and cardboard in the same product. So, before you have a hope of being able to recycle it, the materials need to be separated out.

The predominant packaging material is generally plastic. But, not all plastic is created equally. That means not all of it can be recycled. There are several different kinds of plastics and each type has different properties which impact whether or not it can be recycled.

Plastics are categorised by resin identification codes which are numbered from 1 to 7. They indicate what type of plastic is used to make a product and determine its recyclability. Not all plastics are accepted by curbside recycling programmes in NZ. And even if they are, you need to make sure the plastic is free from contaminants before recycling it - ie. it must be clean.

How The Beauty Industry Can Do Better

The beauty industry creates an immense amount of waste. The majority of the packaging used is single use or hard to recycle. So most people simply don’t recycle it. Instead, it ends up in landfills, the ocean, or is burnt and creates emissions.

Unfortunately, this is an issue bigger than just environmentalism or sustainability. It is creating a real risk to our planet and our future generations.

Now is the time for the beauty industry to implement more sustainable practices. By reusing or recycling a larger portion of product packaging, the industry as a whole can work to reduce its environmental footprint.

The Benefits Of Recyclable Product Packaging

Why is recyclable packaging the best answer for the sustainability problems in the beauty industry? Well, there are a number of benefits that recyclable packaging brings:

• Reducing waste: Recycling beauty product packaging helps to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, oceans, and other natural environments. It also allows materials that would otherwise be thrown away to be reused. This reduces the need for new resources to constantly be extracted and processed.
• Conserving resources: Not only does recycling reduce the need for new plastics to be created, but it also helps to conserve natural resources like the water, oil and energy used in their manufacturing. It takes less energy to recycle materials than it does to create new ones from scratch.
• Supporting sustainability: Recycling is an important part of the circular economy as it keeps materials in use and reduces waste. By recycling beauty product packaging we are supporting sustainability and minimising our impact on the environment.
• Responsible shopping: Choosing recyclable product packaging is responsible consumerism. That’s when the purchasing choices we make are mindful of the impact the product (or its packaging) could have on the environment. By choosing to pick products we can recycle, we are taking an active role in reducing our carbon footprint and supporting a healthier planet.

Introducing Recyclable Refills

Here at summer + bloom, we already have sustainability at the forefront of our minds when creating our products. But, we are excited to take this one step further.

Introducing recyclable refills for four of our most popular products!

We are doing our part to reduce our environmental impact and that means you can too. When you run out of your Sola Drops, Day Dew, Bounce Back or Derma Boost, you don’t need to buy a whole new product. You can simply buy a refill insert instead.

All you have to do is slide out the old empty insert and slide in the new full one. New life injected into the same dispenser bottle! Exciting stuff. Then, you take the empty insert, wash it out and pop it in your curbside recycling. Easy peasy.

Shop for your recyclable refills on our website now.