How to recycle your empty Software beauty packaging

Recycling is an important practice in caring for our planet. Here at Software, we're committed to helping our customers achieve better skin and for our planet, we are working to become a more environmentally sustainable business every day.

With beauty packaging a large contributor to landfill in Australia, we have chosen to use 100 per cent recyclable packaging for our products, so your empty Software containers can be converted into raw materials to create new consumer items.

Recycling your Software packaging

After you've used your Software products to the last drop, you can easily recycle the packaging at home or via TerraCycle.

If you're new to TerraCycle, its mission is to keep rubbish out of landfills or from incineration and to do this, it has developed processes to collect and recycle rubbish that your local household waste recycling program doesn't accept like lip gloss tubes, eyeshadow palettes and nail polish bottles as well as other personal care items like toothpaste tubes.

When it comes to recycling your Software packaging, here's how to do it.

Cardboard or paper

Any cardboard boxes or paper from your Software packaging can be placed in your yellow lid recycling bins at home to be collected by your local council recycling program.

Product containers

This part is a bit trickier as some bottles can be recycled at home but others will need to go through TerraCycle to ensure they are correctly processed.

For example, once the packaging has been rinsed and dried, our plastic and glass Software containers can be placed in your local council recycling bin but smaller parts like the pumps and droppers cannot.

This is where TerraCycle comes in! Simply drop these items off at your local Priceline, Mecca or L'Occitane store in Australia. All of these retailers have TerraCycle boxes within their stores where you can leave your used product packaging. From here, the packaging is shipped to TerraCycle and recycled for free.

You can find out what products these retailers accept via the TerraCycle website so you can ensure you're correctly recycling beauty product containers.

Bonus tip: Save the Software box that your order was shipped in and collect all your empties inside. Drop it off in-store at a TerraCycle program once full.

The TerraCycle recycling process

When your Software empties are collected by TerraCycle, they are processed within its recycling facilities so they can be made into new, usable products.

If you're interested in what happens once your used packaging reaches TerraCycle, here is a look into the beauty product recycling process.

Check-in

Once the packaging arrives at the recycling facility, they are checked in. This involves recording the shipment information, the date it arrived, the weight of the material, and what material it contains.

Sorting

The materials are sorted based on their characteristics and composition, before being transported for proper processing and handling.

Did you know that TerraCycle avoids the incineration of any waste? In fact, TerraCycle guarantees that all materials are recycled and if any non-compliant materials are found, the team ensure that it's accepted by other recycling programs to be given a new life.

Cleaning and processing

After being sorted into categories, the different materials are cleaned and sent to third-party partners to be processed into new, usable forms.

A new life

From here, the third-party partner will process the recycled packaging into raw materials, before selling it to manufacturing companies to make new products!

The plastic from your Software packaging is usually melted and transformed into pellets, flakes or a powder, which allows it to be made into other plastic items. Glass is crushed to be made into new glass bottles, brick, cement or concrete. The rubber from the droppers of our Vitamin C + Ferulic Serum and Retinol Complex Oil is ground into a powder for flooring.

The good news here is that the products created by the beauty industry are recyclable — even those fragile or niche items like lipstick cases and squeezable tubes that aren't accepted by your local council recycling program but are accepted by TerraCycle.

Simply find your local TerraCycle drop-off point and from there, start stockpiling your empty beauty products for recycling.

Disclaimer: We try our best to provide accurate guidelines on recycling, however, please remember to look into your local council recycling program guidelines as well.