MECCA has extended its free national in-store beauty waste recycling program to include recycling of glass fragrance bottles.

MECCA customers have been able to recycle any brand of empty cosmetic, haircare and skincare packaging through the MECCA Beauty Product Free recycling program since 2019. Now they can also recycle any brand of empty glass perfume and fragrance bottles in the TerraCycle collection bins in MECCA stores nationwide.

Since the launch of the recycling program in October 2019, MECCA customers across Australia and New Zealand have dropped off over one million empty beauty containers for recycling and diverted them from landfill. 

Unlike whole glass bottles, fragrance bottles are not accepted in kerbside recycling in Australia due to their complex composition. While whole glass bottles and jars are made from a single type of glass, fragrance bottles are made of different types of glass and feature spray pumps, metal fixtures and other decorative features which must be removed manually and recycled separately. 

MECCA general manager of retail, Sophie Wood said, “We’re always working to reduce our impact on the environment and we know our customers are too. Over the past four years, our customers have taken to TerraCycle, often coming in with bags full of their favourite beauty empties to recycle, so we’re sure they’re going to love that they can now add fragrance to the mix. 

“When it comes to reducing waste, we know our work is far from done. So, as we continue to build on our partnership with TerraCycle, we’re also working closely with our brands and partners to look at how we can design products and packaging based on circular economy principles, and where else we can make improvements within our stores.”     

TerraCycle general manager of Australia and New Zealand, Jean Bailliard commented, “We’re excited to be able to extend our partnership with MECCA and offer a free recycling solution for customers to return even more hard-to-recycle empty beauty waste. This welcome expansion will allow us to recycle even more beauty packaging converting it into new materials that are used by manufacturers to create brand new products.”