Beauty Empties? Bring Them to Bigelow.
Beauty products are designed to make you feel good—but the packaging? That’s another story. The beauty industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging every year, and most of it can’t be recycled through your curbside bin. Think: mascara wands, lip gloss tubes, plastic pumps, and those tiny jars and caps. Too small. Too complex. Too many materials.
That’s where we—and you—can make a real difference.
We’ve teamed up with Pact Collective, a nonprofit focused on giving beauty empties a second life. Now, you can drop off your hard-to-recycle beauty and wellness packaging right here at C.O. Bigelow in NYC—no guessing, no guilt, no greenwashing.
♻️ What's Pact Collective?
Pact Collective is an industry-wide sustainability initiative created by beauty insiders who saw a problem: too many products with packaging that’s impossible to recycle through regular systems. Their solution? Make it easy for consumers to drop off their empties at trusted retailers like us—and get those materials to specialty recyclers who can handle them properly.
📦 What’s the Pact Bin?
It’s simple: our in-store Pact Bin is your go-to spot for dropping off clean, empty packaging that’s typically rejected by municipal recycling.
You don’t have to have bought the product from us. It doesn’t even have to be from a brand we carry. If it’s a beauty or wellness product and it fits the accepted list below, it’s welcome.
Look for the clearly labeled Pact bin at C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries (right near the front counter). You’ll also find a QR code on the bin—scan it if you’re unsure whether something qualifies.
✅ What You Can Drop Off
Here’s what you can bring (just make sure it’s clean and dry):
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Plastic & aluminum squeeze tubes
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Plastic bottles and jars smaller than a yogurt cup
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Pumps, caps, and droppers (detached from bottles)
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Mascara tubes and wands
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Lipstick & lip gloss tubes
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Compacts, palettes, and pencil sharpeners
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Toothpaste tubes and floss containers
Pro Tip: Even if a package looks recyclable, if it’s small, multi-layered, or made from mixed materials, your curbside bin can’t process it. The Pact bin can.
🧼 How to Prep Your Empties
Before you drop them off, a little prep goes a long way:
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Empty it: Use up as much product as you can.
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Disassemble it: Remove pumps, caps, droppers—anything that detaches.
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Wash it: Rinse with warm, soapy water to remove residue.
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Dry it: Let it fully air dry before dropping it off.
Not perfect? That’s okay. Pact encourages better, not perfection. Do your best—we’ll handle the rest.
🌍 Why This Matters
Most beauty packaging ends up in landfills not because you didn’t care—but because you didn’t have options. Local recycling systems weren’t designed for mascara tubes or foundation pumps. They’re too small, too intricate, and made from too many materials to be processed efficiently.
Pact changes that. And you help make it work.
By dropping off your empties with us, you’re helping reduce waste, lower the industry’s environmental footprint, and support a more circular, low-waste future for beauty. Every serum cap, every lip balm tube—it adds up.
📍 Where to Drop Off
C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries
414 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Find the Pact Bin near the front counter. No appointment or purchase necessary—just bring your empties, drop them in, and feel good about doing good.