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Customers get rewarded for recycling with innovative new Recycle at Boots scheme now available in 700 stores

16 September 2021
News CSR
  • Recycle at Boots rolled out to 700 stores following overwhelming reception to trial scheme
  • UK recycling body OPRL says ‘Recycle at Boots’ is now the most accessible beauty, health & wellness recycling scheme of its kind in the UK
  • The scheme encourages customers to bring back empty hard-to-recycle products
  • Customers are rewarded with 250 Boots Advantage Card Points for every five products deposited
  • Customers have backed the scheme as ‘a brilliant idea’ and have dropped off more than half a million empties during the trial[1]

Following a 50 store trial, Boots will roll out the Recycle at Boots scheme to a further 650 stores up and down the country. The expansion of the scheme comes after Boots saw customers drop off over half a million products since it launched last year. A total of 700 stores will now participate, making it easier than ever for customers to recycle their empties.

Customers will continue to get rewarded for recycling - for every five products deposited they will receive a voucher for 250 Boots Advantage Card points (worth £2.50) to use in-store or online.[2]

Boots has also revealed the top three recycled products so far as toothpaste, mascara and hand wash - with Colgate, No7 and Boots coming out as the most recycled brands.

Lucy Reynolds, Director of Communications and CSR, Boots UK said: “We are delighted with the reception the Recycle at Boots scheme has had - the reaction from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve listened to their feedback and as a result are rolling the scheme out further, making it easier than ever for our customers to recycle their empty products that would usually go to landfill. From old mascaras and toothpaste tubes to finished lipsticks and empty vitamin pots – customers can feel even better about treating themselves with their Boots Advantage Card points knowing that their products can be recycled.”

The Recycle at Boots scheme launched in 2020 with a trial of 50 stores and is the first scheme on the UK high street to follow the transparency and accessibility criteria set by OPRL. Using first-to-market Scan2Recycle technology, it is the company’s latest initiative to help tackle environmental challenges in the UK by inspiring positive actions – with a promise not to send any of the hard-to-recycle items to landfill or incineration[3]. After dropping off in-store, the empty products are instead sent to Boots’ recycling partner, MYGroup, where they are then transformed into new items such as reusable storage containers that are now being used at Boots warehouses.

 To find your nearest recycling bank visit Boots.com/Boots-recycling-scheme.

 

[1]Total number of products recycled since launch: 500,282.

[2]Terms and conditions apply. A cap is placed to receive one reward per day and 8 rewards per month, regardless of how many products are deposited.

³ Exclusions apply – For health and safety reasons, we cannot accept the following items: aerosol cans, perfume bottles, nail polish bottles, hair dyes, brow and eyelash tints, safety razors and razor blades, disposable razors and razor heads, used PPE (disposable masks, gloves and visors), food packaging including crisps, medicine, vitamins and supplements blister packs and foils; any electrical items such as hairdryers and straighteners and any medical devices, electrical or not.

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Boots is the UK’s leading health and beauty retailer with over 52,000 team members and 2,100 stores, ranging from local community pharmacies to large destination health and beauty stores.*

Boots serves its customers and patients for life as the leading provider of healthcare on the high street and the UK’s number one beauty destination. It offers an unrivalled depth and breadth of products, which incorporates its extensive own brand range and innovative portfolio of brands, including No7, the UK’s No1 skincare brand, Soap & Glory, Liz Earle Beauty and Sleek MakeUP.

2024 marks Boots’ 175th anniversary year. Founder John Boot opened a herbalist store in Nottingham in 1849 to offer an affordable alternative to traditional medicines. His son Jesse expanded the business to become a modern retailer and the biggest chemist in Britain. Throughout its history, Boots has listened, learned and innovated, and it continues to challenge itself to improve its products and services every day.

Boots is part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, which is a global leader in pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail.  More company information is available on boots-uk.com.

*Figures accurate as of 30 November 2023