Retailer collects 300 000 perfume bottles for recycling

France – Since April last year, customers of European perfume and cosmetics retailer Marionnaud have returned some 300 000 perfume bottles for recycling to the company’s 500-plus stores in France as part of a recycling initiative with Veolia. Altogether, this haul has amounted to around 60 tonnes of glass and 10 tonnes of plastic packaging.

According to Marionnaud, only around 50% of people in France currently recycle beauty product packaging while just one in five recycles nail varnish or make-up product containers.

‘Empty beauty products are a major resource,’ comments Bernard Harambillet, ceo of waste solutions for Veolia in France. ‘We help Marionnaud recycle them in the form of new raw materials which can then be used to make new products, such as glass bottles. This circular economy logic, which requires specialised expertise, is included in Marionnaud’s sustainable development policy.’

According to a survey carried out by IFOP for Marionnaud in February last year, 84% of French people believe it is important for a retail chain to facilitate environmentally-responsible public actions.

Around 80% said they wanted to go to a beauty shop that offered this type of service. Almost 50 million perfume bottles and 440 million cosmetic products are sold in France every year.