Myer, Close the Loop partner to recycle cosmetics packaging waste

Department store Myer has partnered with Close The Loop to trial a cosmetics packaging recycling program.

The trial will run for eight weeks till September 16 and will have Close the Loop collect, sort and process products into eight categories.

Both hard and soft plastics will be shredded and used in Close the Loop’s TonerPlas – an asphalt additive – while metals will be separated and recycled. Glass will be crushed and used as a sand replacement in construction.

Materials that cannot be processed will be used to fire a low-carbon emissions cement kiln so that no products end in a landfill.

CEO of Close the Loop Group, Joe Foster, said this initiative will demonstrate to the global cosmetics industry how it can be more sustainable.

“The launch of the trial is very timely given the Australian Government’s second round of plastics export bans has just come into effect,” said Foster.

“It is a great example of what can be achieved when all stakeholders work together to enable end-of-life products to be efficiently collected, and then recycled or remanufactured into other products.”

He added cosmetics packaging is traditionally a “complex waste stream” often including a range of products such as plastics, glass, metals, natural fibres, mirrors, foils, rubber, foam, paper and residual products.

The grant for the trial is funded by the Australian Government’s National Product Stewardship Investment Fund.

Customers can access the list of participating locations on the website or through the Recycle Mate app which also provides information on what can be recycled through a database of local council waste.

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