The Beauty Dropoff
Ulta Beauty and Pact are helping close the loop on your hard-to-recycle beauty empties so less can end up in landfill.
How it works
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Clean it out
Your empties can be any brand, not just brands available at Ulta Beauty. Make sure they’re clean, unbagged and free of liquid. Otherwise, they can’t be accepted or processed by Pact. Review Pact's Guide to properly cleaning your empties.
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Check the guidelines
Figure out whether your empties should go to Pact, to curbside recycling, or in the trash. Use our Packaging Drop Off Guide before you head to your local Ulta Beauty store to make it easier.
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Drop it off
All Ulta Beauty stores have The Beauty Dropoff collection bin for you to discard your hard-to-recycle empties.
Find a bin near you.
120 billion beauty packages are created every year.
Did you know that the majority will most likely end up in landfill, incinerators, or the ocean? Beauty packaging is often too small, too flexible, or made of too many materials to be recycled through traditional curbside recycling systems. Through The Beauty Dropoff Bins in partnership with Pact, we can help reduce the amount of hard-to-recycle beauty packaging ending up as waste.
What goes in The Beauty Dropoff bin?
Pact only collects hard-to-recycle beauty packaging, like tiny tubes and caps. Still unsure about where your packaging goes after reviewing the collection guidelines? Check out The Beauty Dropoff Guide.
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You can drop off any beauty packaging, as long as it’s clean, empty and on the following list:
Plastic, metal, and paper bottles + jars smaller than a yogurt cup or 2"x 2"
Plastic + aluminum squeezable tubes
Ceramic + porcelain containers
Colored glass bottles + jars (varies heavily by location; check locally)
Caps + closures
Pumps + dispensers
Droppers + applicators
Compacts + palettes
Lipstick/lip gloss tubes + applicators
Mascara tubes + wands
Plastic pencil components for eye/lip liner + brow pencils
Toothpaste tubes + dental floss containers
Silicone containers
Pouches
Sachets
Supplement bottles smaller than a yogurt cup or 2"x 2"
Pact’s collection guidelines will continue to evolve as we gain more insight from our community and recycling partners into local recycling capabilities. It is always ideal to check with your local recycling centers for the most accurate information on curbside recyclable items in your area.
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Rigid plastic containers #1, #2, and #5 (when larger than a yogurt cup or 2" x 2", caps can stay on if the main packaging is curbside recyclable)
Stainless steel or aluminum ((when larger than a yogurt cup or 2" x 2")
Clear or frosted glass jars and bottles (varies heavily by location; check locally)
Cardboard & paper
Pact’s collection guidelines will continue to evolve as we gain more insight from our community and recycling partners into local recycling capabilities. It is always ideal to check with your local recycling centers for the most accurate information on curbside recyclable items in your area.
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Plastic containers #3, #4, #6 and #7 ( when larger than 2" x 2" or a yogurt cup)
Dental Floss
Aerosol cans*
Sponges + Brushes
Single-use wipes
Plastic + Foil safety seals
Nail polish + Remover*
Toothbrushes
Prescription pill bottles (check local recycler guidelines)
*Products considered hazardous materials such as aerosol products, nail polish and nail polish remover should be disposed through proper hazmat disposal. Check for your location's hazmat disposal options.
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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.
What happens to the empties?
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Mechanical recycling
Upcycling packaging material into another product or downcycling into a lower-value item
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Molecular recycling
Breaking down packaging material to its most basic molecular component so it can be used as raw material in future products
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Waste-to-energy
Packaging that cannot be used in any other way is incinerated to generate electricity or fuel
Find The Beauty Dropoff bin!
Not seeing The Beauty Dropoff bin near you (yet)? View Pact’s complete bin location map or mail back your empties directly to Pact.
FAQs
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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You can learn more about Ulta’s Beauty sustainable packaging commitments here.