Most beauty products are covered in plastic — here's how to reduce waste and save money when shopping for them

Partnering up, Sephora and Pact Collective have created Beauty (Re)Purposed, a pilot program designer to "give your finished beauty products a second life." Customers can put their empty beauty and wellness bottles and tubs into a bin in 23 Sephora stores across the United States and 11 in Canada, preventing those items from ending up in a landfill. This reduces waste and helps prevent microplastics from entering the soil and water around landfill sites. 

MOB Beauty was created with sustainability in mind, with a focus on compostable packaging. Everything MOB currently makes is refillable. All of the brand's packaging is made from PET and PP resin packaging, the most recyclable plastics currently available, and with at least 50% post-consumer recycled content. What's more, the company has a new goal of using 100% fully compostable packaging by 2024, as part of its "New Purpose" packaging. 

Kiehl's allows shoppers to order its products in refillable pouches, which can be used to refill any type of product container at home. After enrolling in Kiehl's loyalty program, customers can recycle empty Kiehl's pouches and containers at their local store to rack up points that can be used toward new products.

L'Occitane has partnered with recycling pioneer TerraCycle to provide customers with the opportunity to recycle their L'Occitane products and packages in-store, rewarding those who do withh 10% off their purchase the same day. This recycling program turns packaging waste into new products, successfully avoiding overfilling landfills and creating ocean pollution. 

MAC Cosmetics is working to reduce its negative environmental impact through its Back 2 MAC program, which rewards customers who return six empty MAC products with a free tube of lipstick. Makeup containers can either be brought to participating MAC stores or sent to the company via mail.