Plastic Free July: Why Returning Your Empties Matters

July is Plastic Free July,a global moment when people, communities and businesses around the world are encouraged to reduce single-use plastic waste and rethink everyday habits.

At Beauty Kitchen, we have long seen this time of year as an opportunity to shine a light on the growing issue of plastic pollution, but also to show that change does not have to feel impossible. Small steps, repeated often enough, can create a big difference.

And in beauty, one of the biggest opportunities is packaging.

Why It Matters: Facing the Plastic Problem 

Plastic has transformed modern life, but its convenience comes at a devastating environmental cost:

• Every piece of plastic ever created still exists today.
• Globally, over 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually, much of it single-use.
• Despite widespread recycling initiatives, only 9% of plastic ever created has been recycled.
• Around 23 million tonnes of plastic flow into our oceans each year. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

This isn't just an environmental problem; it's a deeply human one, affecting our health, wildlife, and future generations. Plastic pollution chokes marine life, disrupts ecosystems, and introduces harmful microplastics into the food chain and even our drinking water. And while plastic gets much of the attention, it's thesingle-use packaging—used once and thrown away—that makes up a huge proportion of this waste.

The Beauty Industry’s Plastic Problem

The beauty industry has a packaging problem. Every year, billions of bottles, jars, tubes, pumps and lids are used across the industry, many of them designed for single use.

At Beauty Kitchen, we believe beauty should work better than that.

That is why we created our Return for Reward programme with reuse platform Reposit, helping customers return their empty Beauty Kitchen packaging so it can be washed, prepared and reused again. Instead of packaging being treated as waste after one use, our aim is to keep it in circulation for longer.

We use durable materials such as aluminium, stainless steel and glass across much of our packaging because they are designed to be returned, cleaned and reused. Customers can send their empty Beauty Kitchen packaging back to us free of charge, and we do the rest.

Thanks to our community, thousands of pieces of single-use packaging have already been prevented from ending up as waste. But this July, we want to go further.

Microplastics: The Hidden Problem in Beauty

Packaging is not the only plastic issue in beauty.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that can be intentionally added to some personal care and cosmetic products, or created when larger plastic items break down over time. Because they are so small, they can pass through water systems and end up in rivers, oceans and wider ecosystems.

At Beauty Kitchen, we believe beauty should never come at the expense of the environment or your health. That is why our formulations are made without microplastics.

For us, better beauty means looking at the whole picture: what goes into the product, what the product does for your skin, and what happens to the packaging afterwards.