The Perfume Shop has launched a perfume bottle recycling service as part of its sustainability drive.

Perfume bottles are unable to be recycled as part of normal household recycling services because the bottles not only require cleaning, but also include metal elements that need to be taken apart and recycled separately.

Customers can now take their empty perfume bottles to any branch of The Perfume Shop (including bottles purchased elsewhere). All bottles returned to store will be sent to a specialist recycling expert to deep clean and recycle all the bottle elements, with the glass being reused.

Customers returning their empty bottles to store will be rewarded with a voucher for 10% off same-day perfume purchases.

In addition to recycling, The Perfume Shop is encouraging brands to look at refillable bottles and other more sustainable options. Thierry Mugler has championed refills and The Perfume Shop offers this service for the brand’s most popular perfumes, including Angel and Alien.  Hermes also offers a wide range of refills, while Lancôme has just launched its first refills.

The bottle recycling scheme is the latest in The Perfume Shop’s drive to become more sustainable, which also includes working towards removing plastic bags from stores, saving seven million bags from entering the UK market each year. Customers will now be offered a premium paper gift bag instead.

The retailer has also decided to no longer produce plastic Rewards Club members’ cards, asking customers to instead use The Perfume Shop app to find their points total and discover special personalised offers.  If any customers would like a Rewards Club card for their wallet they will be offered a new cardboard version instead, which will be introduced to stores later this summer.