Podcast 265: How Pact Collective is cleaning up the mess the beauty industry left behind

The beauty industry has a packaging problem – and it’s much bigger than you think.

From pumps and pouches to tiny tubes and tricky caps, most of it isn’t recyclable, and millions of beauty empties end up in landfills every year. But how do we fix a system that was never built for circularity? And who’s actually stepping up to tackle the waste the beauty sector leaves behind?

Join Lorraine Dallmeier – Chartered Environmentalist, Biologist and CEO of Formula Botanica – in this episode of Green Beauty Conversations as she speaks with Carly Snider, Executive Director of Pact Collective – a nonprofit collective uniting the beauty industry to reduce packaging waste and drive toward circular solutions.

Founded by beauty industry veterans Credo Beauty and MOB Beauty, Pact leverages pre-competitive collaboration to create meaningful change and reduce unnecessary beauty packaging waste.

In this episode, Carly shares how Pact is uniting brands, retailers, packaging suppliers, and nonprofits to design better solutions, educate consumers, and move the beauty industry towards a more circular future.

If you’ve ever wondered what really happens to your beauty empties after you drop them in the bin, or how the beauty industry might transform its relationship with waste, this episode is for you.

“Sustainability shouldn’t be a marketing tool – it should be something that really drives impact. Together, we can accelerate that impact.” — Carly Snider

In this episode with Carly Snider, you will hear:

• How Pact Collective was born. Why Pact Collective was founded by Credo Beauty and MOB Beauty – and how a small group of passionate changemakers is transforming beauty’s relationship with packaging waste.
• The challenges of recycling beauty packaging. How difficult it is to recycle beauty packaging, especially tiny formats, mixed materials, and flexible tubes.
• How Pact’s 3,000+ collection bins across North America work. How Pact’s membership model works and what beauty empties you can – and can’t – drop off.
• Why consumer education is a core part of Pact’s mission. The importance of education and how a simple QR code can help you make smarter recycling decisions.
• What happens to your products after they’re dropped off? From hand-sorting into 14 material categories to finding the best second homes, this is what happens to your empties.
• The role of refill and reuse. The future of beauty packaging, and why recycling should be the very last resort.

Key takeouts include:

• Collective action is crucial to fix the waste problem. No single beauty brand can fix the packaging crisis alone. Pact brings together brands, retailers, suppliers, and recyclers to pool resources, share expertise, and drive meaningful change through collective effort.
• Beauty’s packaging problem is complex. Most beauty products are too small, too mixed, or too flexible for conventional recycling systems. Small items fall through recycling equipment; mixed materials are nearly impossible to separate; and flexible tubes often lie flat and get lost. Pact tackles these problems with specialised sorting and partnerships.
• Education is key to brands and consumers. Pact supports consumers with clear collection guidelines and a smart interactive drop-off guide, but is also pushing brands to rethink packaging design to make cleaning easier in the first place.
• Pact is committed to nothing going to landfill. Even beauty waste returned through B2B channels, like unsellable or returned products, is processed to find a second life for materials. Incineration is used only when absolutely necessary, and landfilling is avoided wherever possible.
• The future is refill and reuse. Recycling is only a temporary solution. Pact envisions a future where beauty packaging is designed for reuse and refilling, leveraging its existing bin infrastructure to make closed-loop systems a reality.

Meet our guest: Carly Snider, Executive Director of Pact Collective

Carly Snider is the Executive Director of Pact Collective, a nonprofit tackling packaging waste in the beauty and wellness industry.

With nearly a decade of experience in business, non-profit, and sustainability, Carly leverages her expertise to operationalise sustainability and build partnerships for a more equitable and sustainable future. Previously, she founded Snider Impact Consulting, working with global organisations on sustainable strategies and B Corp Certification.

Carly’s leadership extends to managing director and operations roles at a reusable packaging start-up and fostering community at B Lab and across the B Corp Community. Carly holds an MS in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Where to find Carly and Pact Collective: 

• Website: Pact Collective
• Instagram: @pact_collective

Related episodes:

• Episode 93: Innovative beauty packaging with mushrooms and seeds
• Episode 225: Can cosmetic packaging be sustainable?

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.