Experts in This Article

Kirsten Kjaer Weis is the founder of makeup brand Kjaer Weis.

Mia Davis is the VP of sustainability and impact at Credo Beauty and co-founder of Pact.

Randi Kronthal-Sacco is the senior scholar of marketing and corporate outreach at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

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Stephanie Moses is a senior account director at waste-management company TerraCycle.

So far, the industry has come up with two significant solutions: refillable products and mail-in/drop-off specialty recycling.

Neither option is perfect, as they rely on the consumer to go the extra mile.

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Kirsten Kjaer Weis is the founder of makeup brand Kjaer Weis.

But theyre a step in the right direction.

While foregoing a new lipstick tube may not seem that impactful, Davis says it all adds up.

At Kjaer Weiss, thats a$48 reusableand$30 for subsequent refills.

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But everyone is using different products.

Kjaer Weis and Augustinus Bader both report consumer loyalty when it comes to refills.

Augustinus Bader offers refills for three of its 20-plus products.

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Refills account for nearly 50 percent of all serum and eye cream purchases from launch to date.

First, consumers actually have to remember to recycle.

But is that where youre applying your products?

Black hair woman wearing a grey and white bra giving herself a deep cleansing session with a face brush and Gatineau skincare face wash lotion, after her shower. Studio skincare portrait over isolated background.

Kirsten Kjaer Weis is the founder of makeup brand Kjaer Weis.

For the other types, its the oppositerecycling centers would lose money trying to recycle them.

Thats why TerraCycle partners with brands to cover the recycling costs.

Then, theyre broken down and recycled into items like storage bins, flooring tiles, and outdoor furniture.

A curvy woman applying cleansing balms and smiling to her reflection in the mirror.

But its hard enough to get consumers to drop items into recycling bins.

But its not that simple.

But, the ability to do this is determined by various factors like cost and product pop in.

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There are properties with the harder plastics that may reduce damage or contamination, says Kronthal-Sacco.

We cant consume our way to sustainability.

Theyre inherently at odds, says Davis.

Im a sustainability expert in a space that sells stuff.

So I get the tension thereI live that tension.

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