Pact is a nonprofit collective uniting the beauty industry to solve our packaging problem. So much (so much!) beauty packaging cannot be recycled through curbside recycling programs — it could be too small, made of mixed materials, too flexible, or made of materials with no end market. Pact works to tackle these problems, divert packaging waste from landfill, and make beauty packaging more sustainable.

Yes! The Beauty Dropoff Collection Program is brand-agnostic, meaning you can discard any of your favorite beauty product empties at The Beauty Dropoff bins.

If your empties aren’t clean and still have goop in them, they are considered contaminated, meaning they’re too dirty to be processed by Pact or for their recyclers to handle the product (remember — recycling is a manual process, meaning items are sometimes hand sorted). Contaminated packaging cannot be repurposed and is sent waste-to-energy. By cleaning your empties, you’re increasing the chance that your packaging will get a new life.

A lot of packaging can and should be recycled at home. Cardboard, metal, most glass, and plastic larger than a fist (if they’re labeled, numbers #1, 2, and 5).

That being said, municipal recycling facilities can’t recycle small packaging like compacts, lipsticks, travel-size items, squeezable tubes, and other components commonly used for beauty products. Pact works to collect this material that would otherwise end up in the trash and find its highest and best use whenever possible.

After collection, Pact aims to find the highest and best use for the packaging material collected.

-Mechanical recycling: Upcycling packaging material into another product (e.g. new packaging) or downcycling into a lower-value item (e.g. warehouse pallets, flowerpots)

-Molecular recycling: Breaking down packaging material to its most basic molecular component so that it can be used as raw material in future products (e.g. packaging or textiles)

-Waste-to-energy: Packaging that cannot be used in any other way is incinerated to generate electricity or fuel

Material collected by Pact never goes to the landfill.

Follow the Ulta Beauty x Pact Packaging Drop-Off Guide for a step-by-step process to determine what goes in the bin and what to do with your packaging that doesn’t.

Below are some packaging cleaning tips for you:

-Save a minimum of five empties before you clean. That way, you can clean multiple packages at once.

-Take apart all caps, pumps, lids and closures so you properly clean each component.

-Hot water and dish soap are your best cleaning friends.

-Try to avoid running the water when you clean your empties to help reduce negative impact. We like to fill one big bowl or the sink with water and add all of the empties together to soak.

-Straw brushes are great for cleaning tiny packaging, like caps and closures.

-Tubes can be tricky to clean. The easiest way to clean tubes is to cut the top of the tube open, so you’ll be able to clean inside.

-Mascara tubes are another tough one. We like to use a straw brush or a clean mascara wand to clean the inside with soap and hot water. Repeat a brush and rinse process until the clear water runs out of the tube.

-Lipstick tubes are best cleaned with a small spatula or scoop. Roll the tube all the way up and scoop out as much product as you can, then use a small straw brush to scrub out any remaining product. Hot water is key here.

You can learn more about Ulta’s Beauty sustainable packaging commitments here.