With dermatologists drilling home the importance of daily sunscreen use, empty bottles are going faster.

In fact, according to an estimate from Euromonitor, the global beauty industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging every year, including SPF skincare products. Most sunscreen packaging is not accepted via curbside recycling services due to its complex material composition, small size and lingering residue that making it difficult and unprofitable for local recyclers to process.

Luckily, TerraCycle offers free sustainable solutions to recycle sunscreen packaging, ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills or incinerators.

TerraCycle recycles sunscreen containers and other hard-to-recycle packaging by working with brands, retailers and other stakeholders who fund the recycling process. Through initiatives such as the Innisfree Free Recycling Program, consumers can recycle empty sunscreen containers from its favorite brands, along with other skincare product packaging.

“Many people have been told that empty or expired skincare products can only be thrown away, but technically, almost anything can be recycled,” said TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky. “With partners like Innisfree, Burts Bee’s, Acure and so many more, consumers can enjoy their summer adventures sustainably by responsibly disposing of their empty sunscreen packaging.”

Summer Skincare Recycling

TerraCycle offers programs for consumers to recycle their summer skincare products, including the following free recycling programs: Acure; Beekman 1802; Burt’s Bees; Dermalogica; Eos; Innisfree; Josie Maran; Murad; Paula’s Choice Skincare; and Weleda.

Customers can mail in their empty skincare packaging by signing up on the respective TerraCycle program pages and downloading a prepaid shipping label. The packaging does not need to be cleaned before shipping, but removing as much of the remaining product as possible is recommended.

Once collected, the skincare packaging is shredded, cleaned and separated by material type. Metals are sorted, smelted and formed for use in secondary metals manufacturing. Glass is removed and used in aggregate-based products. Plastics are sorted by category and then ground to make recycled plastic blends that manufacturers use to make new products.