Here’s How You Can Get Paid To Recycle
Want to do good for the planet and make cash in the process? Now you can with these popular high street retailers.
Do you cringe at the thought of empty products and unwanted items being thrown away carelessly? Us too. We think it’s super important to make sure we recycle things the right way to do good for the planet.
With Christmas and New Year’s long in the past, you might be left with the odd unwanted gift or old items you have no idea what to do with. We even discovered that students’ fancy dress costumes produce thousands of tonnes of plastic waste, which is pretty shocking.
If you want to make some cash quickly, you’re in luck as loads of retailers have recycling initiatives that even pay you to recycle!
So if you’re having a clear out, check which stores are participating in recycling initiatives below that could get you paid too.
Retailers that will pay to recycle
1. Boots
A voucher for 500 additional Advantage Card points can be obtained by recycling five empty toiletry or cosmetic containers at a Boots location that participates in the programme. This will be worth £5 when you next spend £10 at Boots. If it won’t cost you any money, it’s worth doing!
Plus, you can use the scheme to recycle items which can’t be recycled through your bins at home such as mascara and lipstick. This means items that can be recycled, such as shampoo and shower gel bottles, can be redeemed for a reward.
Get a Boots student discount
2. H&M
If you have unwanted clothes or home textiles, regardless of their condition, take them into H&M to receive £5 off a £25 voucher. That’s pretty useful if you’re shopping in H&M anyway.
But what happens to what you recycle with H&M?
H&M says it does three things with the items they get handed in:
- Rewear – clothes that can be worn again will be sold as second-hand clothes
- Reuse – old clothes and textiles are turned into other products, including cleaning cloths
- Recycle – everything else is turned into textile fibres and used for things such as insulation
3. John Lewis
Get £5 to spend on beauty products in John Lewis when you recycle five empty make-up and skincare containers of any brand.
4. Lush
Lush has two amazing recycling schemes — just be sure to clean and dry out your empties before bringing them into the store.
- If you save up five of its black recyclable pots — or any full-size plastic packaging, you can take them to any store to exchange for a free fresh face mask. This normally costs around £10.
- Or, you can take any empty individual qualifying Lush packaging to a store to get 50p off a full-price item in-store. You’ll get 50p off for each full-size item you recycle. So for example, you can also get 5p off for each 10ml sample pot.
- However, if you are going to use the money off, it must be used on that same day when you are handing over the items.
What can I recycle at Lush?
- PET clear plastic bottles (with lids)
- PP pots clear and black (with lids)
- PP make-up packaging
- HDPE bottles (with trigger/spray tops)
What can I not recycle at Lush?
- Non-Lush packaging
- Bottle tops
- Non-plastic packaging such as a jar or tin
5. Schuh
Schuh works in partnership with Recyclatex as part of their ongoing commitment to operate sustainably. Recycle any pair of shoes at Schuh to get a voucher for £5 off when you next spend £25.
Get a Schuh student discount
