Can you recycle makeup & cosmetics packaging?
🔄 Specialist take-back
Mostly general waste; Boots and John Lewis run cosmetics take-back schemes with rewards.
Compacts, mascara tubes, lipsticks and pumps are small, mixed-material and unsortable. Boots' 'Recycle at Boots' scheme takes any brand's empty cosmetics and gives loyalty points; several beauty brands run counter take-back. Glass jars and simple bottles recycle normally once clean.
Tips
- Boots gives Advantage Card points per drop-off — genuinely worth it
Which bin does it go in?
Mostly general waste; Boots and John Lewis run cosmetics take-back schemes with rewards.
Background: The 10 recycling mistakes that ruin lorry-loads.
Also searched as: mascara, lipstick, compacts, beauty empties.
✓ Checked against current UK guidance: 14 Jul 2026. Spot an error or an out-of-date rule?