THE WHAT? Watsons Hong Kong has partnered with L’Oréal to roll out the ‘Beauty for the Future’ recycling campaign, which aims to widen its sustainability impact. 

THE DETAILS According to a press release, “In celebration of World Environment Day, A.S. Watson Group’s flagship health and beauty brand Watsons is extending its regionwide recycling programme to Hong Kong. This rides on the hugely successful launch of recycling programmes in Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.”

Watsons has previously worked with Maybelline to set up recycling bins in stores, and for every empty bottle that is recycled, Maybelline donates to Re-Think to run sustainability education programmes. 

In Thailand, Watsons’ customers can recycle their PET plastic bottles at the Garnier Refund Machine in selected stores and earn a free Garnier Pink Micellar Water; while in Indonesia, Watsons has launched a recycling programme with Garnier to encourage customers to recycle plastic bottles at Watsons stores.

THE WHY? Watsons is looking to expand its green credentials, extending the recycling programme to Hong Kong. 

Customers can recycle the cleaned containers of any beauty brand, including foundation bottles, mascara wands, skincare tubs, and lipstick tubes at around 170 Watsons stores across the city in exchange for rewards in the city’s largest loyalty platform MoneyBack.

Once collected, V Cycle will break down the wastes, separate them by materials, and work with local partners to transform them into new raw materials.

Eva Yu, President & Managing Director of L’Oréal Hong Kong, said, “With the scaled-up recycling campaign as part of our ‘L’Oréal for the Future’ sustainability programme, we want to further inspire and influence how our consumers think and what they do about packaging wastes – not as something to toss out, but as a resource that can be recycled and used again, and sustainably, reducing the impact on our environment. Our partnership with Watsons and V Cycle will help make this a reality.”