SHOPPERS can bag themselves some Boots Advantage Card points for free worth £2.50.
All you need to do is take back hard-to-recycle items like mascara and toothpaste tubes to stores – and you can now do it at hundreds of locations.
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Boots first launched its recycling scheme last year as a trial at 50 stores offering loyalty points for returning the packaging.
The scheme has proved a success and is now available at 700 Boots shops across the country.
You can make money from returning old make up and other toiletries – and it can be from any beauty or health brand, not just empties from Boots.
You’ll be rewarded with 250 points, which is worth £2.50, when you drop off five empties.
Normally you would have to spend over £60 to earn that many points as you get four points for every £1 you spend.
The scheme did offer £5 worth of points but now offers a smaller reward as the scheme rolls out more widely.
But you could bag more free points if you use it regularly, as you can use the service as much as you want, though only once per day.
The free points are on offer to encourage people to recycle items made of materials that are hard to re-purpose.
More than half a million products have already been recycled through the scheme the high street store said.
Lucy Reynolds, director of communications and corpora social responsibility at Boots in the UK said the response from customers has been “overwhelmingly positive” and that the empty products would have ended up in landfill otherwise.
She said: “From old mascaras and toothpaste tubes to finished lipsticks and empty vitamin pots – customers can feel even better about treating themselves with their Boots Advantage Card points knowing that their products can be recycled.”
How do I get free Boots Advantage Cards points?
You just need to use your smartphone camera to take a picture of each of the items on the Boots Scan 2Recycle website – you’ll need to create a free account and add your Advantage card number.
Shoppers then drop the empties off at one of the 700 stores offering the scheme.
You can use the Boots store locator tool to find your nearest store offering the scheme – it will be listed as “Recycle at Boots” under services.
This can be done at the special recycling bins located near No7 makeup counters.
You’ll need to scan the QR code on the bin for each item you drop off and mark the item as deposited on the website.
You’ll then be sent a barcode, which you’ll need to take to a No7 till point with your advantage card to redeem the points – this needs to be done on the same day or you’ll miss out.
You can then use the points in store or online.
You can also track how many items you’ve recycled on the website and there’s also no limit on how many times you can recycle, as long as you don’t do it more than once in a day.
The packaging returned to Boots goes to recycling company MyGroup where they are turned into new items – including storage containers that are used at Boots’ warehouses.
Boots isn’t the only place you can get freebies for recycling either.
You can get money off your shopping at top shops like H&M, John Lewis and Uniqlo, among others.
What items can I recycle at Boots to get Advantage Card points?
There’s a huge range of make up, beauty and health items you can recycle for points under Boots’ new scheme.
You should try and make sure the packaging is as empty as possible.
- after sun and sun protection cream, lotion, moisturise and pump dispenser
- aftershave lotion
- antiperspirant and deodorant cream, roll on and stick
- bath & body samples or minis
- BB cream
- blusher
- body butter, moisturiser oil scrub
- bronzer
- brow palettes and pencils
- brushes and brush cleansers
- bubble bath, oils and salts
- CC cream
- chest cream
- cleanser
- combs
- concealer
- conditioner
- contact lens case and solution
- contouring
- corrector
- dental care samples or minis
- denture care
- exfoliator
- eye products including cream, eye liner, eye palettes, eye shadow
- face creams, face palettes and face wash
- fake tan drops, lotion, moisturiser and pump dispensers
- feminine cream, lotion shave balm and wash
- flossing products
- foot cream and lotion
- foundation
- haircare minis
- hair products, including cream, gel, jelly, mousse pump, paste, hair putty, serum, spray pump, treatments, wax, and haircare samples
- hand cream, hand lotion, sanitiser, hand wash
- highlighter & luminiser
- insect repellent lotion and pump dispenser and stick
- lip products, including balms & creams, gloss, pencils, lipsticks
- make-up brushes, samples and minis, sponges
- mascara
- masks
- micellar water
- moisturiser
- mouthwash
- nail polish remover
- neck cream
- powder
- primers & base
- shampoo
- shaving cream pot, tube, cream pump dispenser, gel pump dispenser
- shower gels
- skincare samples or minis
- soap
- supplement bottles, tubes, tubs
- talcum powder
- teeth whitening product
- toiletry samples or minis
- toners
- toothbrushes and toothpaste
- vitamin bottles, tubes and tubs
There are also items you can’t recycle, including:
- aerosol cans
- perfume bottles
- nail polish bottles
- hair dyes
- brow and eyelash tints
- safety razors and razor blades
- disposable razors and razor heads
- used PPE (disposable masks, gloves and visors)
- medicine
- vitamins and supplements blister packs and foils
- any electrical items such as hairdryers and straighteners and any medical devices, electrical or not
- food packaging of any type, including crisp packets
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