HOW TO RECYCLE SHAMPOO BOTTLES

Squeezed your Head & Shoulders bottle for every last drop and now you’re ready to recycle? Right this way for the ‘how to’ on Head & Shoulders plastic bottle recycling…

Recycling bathroom products

Whether you’re new to the recycling scene or a kitchen goods recycling veteran, when it comes to bathroom goods, it can get a little tricky.

From aerosols to your toilet roll dispenser and every cotton bud in between. Bin or recycling?

While recycling food packaging and kitchen products might be more commonplace in households nowadays, how are you at navigating through those bathroom products at end of life?

If shampoo bottles fall into the unknown for you, this step-by-step guide will make sure you’re putting each element in its rightful place so you can tell your friends you have packaging separation down to a fine art.

How to recycle shampoo bottles in 3 easy steps

Head & Shoulders bottles are made with HDPE, a material purposefully chosen because it’s easy to recycle. But while all our Head & Shoulders bottles (except the caps, lids & pumps) are recyclable, it’s not as simple as just tossing the empty bottle in the recycling bin.

Instead, there are a few steps you’ll need to follow to make recycling shampoo bottles possible…

1. First: Make sure it’s possible for the HDPE bottle to be recycled as intended. So, start by sorting all white bottles, as these can be recycled (think white milk bottles). We’re working on making our blue bottles, caps and pumps recyclable by 2030 or sooner.

2. Next, remove the sleeve from the white HDPE bottle as this can’t be recycled.

3. Finally, give the bottle a good rinse to remove any shampoo left in the bottle or around in the bottom.

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Top bathroom recycling tips

Now you know how to recycle the Head & Shoulders shampoo bottle, here are a few little tips to help you cut back on packaging and step up to the recycling challenge.

Know what goes where. Did you know that if everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to power a refrigerator for over a year in 2,000 homes! From flattening toothpaste boxes and toilet roll holders to rinsing bathroom cleaners and recycling the plastic caps on aerosol cans. Knowing what goes where will help you make an even bigger positive impact on the environment.

Make a designated recycling space for bathroom goods. It’s likely that you won’t want to line up empties somewhere visible until you have enough to take them to your main recycling bin, so pop a little basket or bin near the bathroom so you can fill that and they’re out the way, instead.

Buy bigger bottles. If you know you can’t live without a certain product, it’s a good idea to reduce your plastic consumption by just buying the biggest bottle available so it’ll last longer and use less packaging overall.

Keep bottle tops. Plastic bottle cap recycling isn’t yet mainstream, so collect these and if you don’t have a use for them, consider either letting your children use them for art projects, or storing them up to donate to a local school or children’s hospital where they might have a use for them.

Upcycle. If you have packaging you can’t or don’t want to recycle, get creative and make something with it! If you’re after some inspiration, we’ve put together a guide filled with upcycling hacks.

If you’d like to know where you can recycle a specific item, read more on what to put in your home recycling bin or find your nearest recycling locations, you can find this and more at Recycle Now.