Great British Beauty Clean Up 2026 drives shift towards reusable product packaging

March will see the return of The Great British Beauty Clean Up (GBBCU): a nationwide collaboration between retailers, brands and professionals created by the British Beauty Council’s Sustainable Beauty Coalition, with the aim of reducing waste.

Around 120 billion units of packaging are produced each year, and The GBBU is encouraging the beauty industry to ‘rethink its relationship with waste’. In addition, it seeks to drive a nationwide cultural shift towards reusing, refilling and rescuing surplus stock from landfill and incineration.

Victoria Brownlie, chief of policy and sustainability at the British Beauty Council, says: “We can and must do better. With the industry accounting for one-third of all landfill waste, simply recycling is no longer enough. The Great British Beauty Clean Up is focused on reimagining waste completely.

“Whether by donating surplus stock to companies like In Kind Direct to help those in need, or using MYGroup to turn compacts into construction materials, we are asking the industry to think more purposefully about closing the loop when it comes to packaging.”

The GBBCU follows a three-tiered approach: ‘adopting refillable systems, donating usable surplus products to fight hygiene poverty and repurposing hard-to-recycle materials’.

The campaign aims to achieve this by:

1. Promoting reusable and refillable products ‘to transition consumers away from a discard culture’.
2. Preventing usable products from ending up in landfill by spotlighting organisations who work to reduce this, such as This is Beauty UK, Beauty Banks, The Hygiene Bank and In Kind Direct.
3. Repurposing packaging that cannot be reused by reimagining waste.

MYGroup take-back scheme

MYGroup is a sustainability-focused company that handles waste and turns it into new products. The company has joined forces with the British Beauty Council and Sustainable Beauty Coalition for GGBCU 2026. The partnership offers beauty businesses a ‘fully managed take-back solution for hard-to-recycle empties’.

Steve Carrie, group director at MYGroup, comments: “We know the beauty industry is determined to reduce its waste footprint, but consumers still struggle to recycle many beauty items at home. Our work on The Great British Beauty Clean Up focuses on removing barriers and providing businesses with a straightforward way to capture what kerbside systems simply can’t.”

MYGroup notes on its website: “The MYGroup x British Beauty Council recycling box scheme provides a simple, pre-paid way to deal with hard-to-recycle salon, shop and office waste – including mixed plastics, cosmetic packaging and foils.

“Once your box is ready to return, seal it and arrange your free collection by scanning the QR code included. Each box is a one-off cost that provides a fully traceable solution, keeping professional waste out of landfill and transforming it into new materials.”

Oriele Frank, chair of the Sustainable Beauty Coalition, adds:

“By promoting reusable and refillable products, businesses can lead a cultural shift toward packaging that is valued, rather than discarded. We are inviting brands, retailers and salons to join us in March to reduce the amount of waste created by the beauty industry and build a brighter, better future for us all.”

The 2026 campaign will kick off on 2 March to align with Global Recycling Day (18 March) and the UN International Day of Zero Waste (30 March).

Get involved by downloading the Campaign Toolkit via www.britishbeautycouncil.com, and view your closest take-back scheme on the British Beauty Council’s interactive map.