April 22nd, 2022, is “Earth Day,” but Pact Collective says, “Every day is our Earth Day!”

Co-founded by Credo Beauty and MOB Beauty, Pact Collective is the beauty industry’s packaging sustainability “think tank.” The non-profit is celebrating its first anniversary today.

“The collective is powerful because we have representatives from across the industry who have come together to create a not-for-profit recycling solution," says Victor Casale, Pact co-founder and CEO of MOB Beauty. "Pact will bring much-needed inclusivity and transparency to beauty packaging systems-- from design to end-of-life,” he adds.

Pact’s members include beauty brands, packaging suppliers, retailers, and other non-profit allies—all helping to move the beauty packaging industry away from designs that end up in landfills and toward designing for circularity. Pact's take-back program is the first-ever exclusively for beauty packaging.

The beauty industry generates an estimated 120 billion cosmetic packages annually.

Many beauty brands still use virgin plastic, even as PCR and other materials provide more eco-conscious alternatives. Plus, there are still many types of cosmetic packages that are not recyclable in municipal curbside programs. 

Pact Collective was born out of the concern over the environmental impact of beauty packaging, and created a way to collect it back. But, it also aims to help further the sustainable packaging discussion, as a platform where members can share resources.

Mia Davis, Pact co-founder and VP of Sustainability and Impact for Credo says:

“We founded Pact to take responsibility for beauty packaging’s impact on the planet. The collection program is one tool in our toolbox. The even bigger work is to share accurate, truthful information with stakeholders so that together, we change packaging design—and help everyone make more sustianable material choices."

Pact Collective Now Has 100 Members—And Counting

Pact is celebrating its first birthday and its 100th member, Victoria Beckham Beauty.

“We are thrilled to join Pact, the organization bringing us together to change the status quo,” says Victoria Beckham, founder of Victoria Beckham Beauty. “Most beauty packaging waste is landfilled, incinerated or littered, polluting communities and waterways. We have to do better.”

Beautycounter, Kendo, and ILIA also recently joined Pact—and have pledged to improve the sustainability of their packaging.

Gregg Renfrew, founder and executive chair of Beautycounter, says:

“In 2020, we set an ambitious goal of achieving 100% sustainable packaging by 2025, and I’m proud that our partnership with Pact is yet another way for us to continue to make an impact and push the beauty industry forward."

Renfrew adds, "I started Beautycounter because I believe in clean beauty—and that we must do better for both people and the planet.”

Pact Aims To Solve the Hard-To-Recycle Issue 

Hard-to-recycle packaging is so common in the beauty industry, so Pact launched the first-ever 'beauty-only' packaging take-back program on Earth Day 2021.

Since the program began, Pact has collected over 20,000 lbs of hard-to-recycle beauty packaging. This year, Pact aims to triple the volume of collected materials.

There are 180 Pact collection bins in retailers and other locations across North America, including 89 Hudson’s Bay stores in Canada. Consumers can bring hard-to-recycle beauty packages to the bins.

Pact advises consumers to continue to recycle using curbside programs whenever possible, and refer to the guidelines on its website before using its collection bins.

What Is a Hard-to-Recycle Package?

Any plastic item smaller than a yogurt cup is considered hard to recycle. In beauty, these include squeeze tubes, pumps, caps, and other components that are highly unlikely to be recycled in curbside programs.

But there is a distinct difference between a hard-to-recycle package and one that is unlikely to be recycled—and unfortunately, some packaging types should still go into trash bins. Pact’s mission is to work with manufacturers and packaging suppliers to “design for circularity,” and aims to help solve this issue.

What Does Pact Do with Hard-to-Recycle Packaging?

Pact sends its hard-to-recycle packaging collected from its bins to a recycling partner, where packages are sorted and then recycled, whenever possible.

When packages are impossible to recycle mechanically due to mixed materials or contamination, they go to chemical recycling or waste-to-energy.

Pact Says the Chasing Arrows Symbol is Misleading

Determining which packages can be recycled is a challenge for consumers, to say the least—and beauty brands sometimes don’t fully understand the differences. For this reason, education is a part of Pact's mission.

“Several brands have told us that they genuinely didn't know their packaging was unlikely to be recycled,” says Davis. “Some were mixed materials fused together, such as a metal foil decoration on plastic. Or, a squeezable tube made from different types of plastic,” she explains. “They purchased packaging with a ‘chasing arrow’ symbol on it, so they assumed it could be recycled. That symbol is misleading,” she says.

Davis says she believes the “chasing arrows” symbol should be prohibited on packaging that is unlikely to be recycled in curbside recycling programs. “Now that these brands know better, they can do better,” he says. “They are actively choosing more sustainable options.”

Credo Beauty Has Pact Bins in Stores

Credo Beauty, the clean beauty retailer and co-founder of Pact Collective, aims to help the planet with its Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, which it introduced in 2020. The guidelines require Credo’s 130+ brand partners to meet specific standards meant to reduce the use of single-use items, virgin plastic, and non-recyclable materials.

The first milestone, in June 2021, marked the elimination of all single-use beauty products, such as makeup wipes, sheet masks, and treatment pads. “We also eliminated our sampling program because those little packets will never be recycled,” says Davis.

Now, Credo has Pact collection bins in all ten of its stores. 

What’s Next for Pact Collective?

Davis says she already sees the positive impact that Pact is having on the beauty industry. “We are getting stakeholders together to learn and share information, and to collectively raise the bar on packaging.”

Pact has hosted several webinars where members have shared best practices and trouble-shooted challenges. “We've also introduced a new Sustainable Packaging Tool to help teams make better packaging choices, in real time,” says Davis.

She adds, “We encourage all of our members—the entire industry, really—to aim for a goal of zero packaging send to the landfill.” 

Find out more about Pact Collective—and how you can join the sustainable packaging movement. 

Photos above via Instagram @Pact_Collective