It’s Recycle Week (21st-27th Sept), and award-winning, London-based independent perfumery Floral Street are ‘…calling on the Beauty industry to drive sustainable change.’
We once thought recycling was enough, but the concept of just throwing packaging into the recycling bin and hoping for the best is outmoded and most certainly not enough. ‘It is reported that more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, much of which is not recyclable,’ Floral Street remind us.
This craziness has to end if we’re to make an impact on environmental change for the better, and so tossing that used container into recycling isn’t enough – even if it can be recycled, it will likely be turned into yet another single use packaging product.
It’s a subject Michelle Feeney, the Founder of Floral Street, feels passionately about. ‘The Beauty industry can do so much more to make products and packaging recyclable and reusable,’ she says. ‘Collectively we can innovate and drive real change. We are an industry of creatives, so let’s lead this responsibly, together.’
‘The majority of fragrance comes packaged in plastic wrapping and foam inserts with ornate caps and lavish additions – sometimes all in one purchase. Often the packaging that can be recycled is not done responsibly which results in unnecessary landfill and pollution of our oceans.’ – Michelle Feeney
From the get-go, Floral Street have championed re-using and up-cycling their packaging – the gift boxes are FSC certified, confirming they meet the highest environmental and social responsibility standards, and even the grosgrain ribbon they use is made from recycled plastic bottles! Personally, at The Perfume Society, we love using the boxes as seed trays and to store makeup brushes.
But as well as the boxes being fully compostable, Floral Street didn’t stop there, explaining that ‘…instead of cellophane, our fragrance packaging features reusable, brightly coloured, elastic bands. Our scented candles are presented in glass pots which are widely recyclable, but why not reuse them!
Our entire bath and body range is housed in sleek tubes made from sugar cane bioplastic which is recyclable and sustainably sourced. We have an accreditation to confirm this comes from a bioproduct of the food industry, so it’s not specifically grown just for beauty purposes.’
‘We believe recycling is good but reusing and repurposing is even better. This is the future of Beauty.’