If you're a brand weighing whether a free packaging recycling program is worth building, TerraCycle's roster of partnerships is the best case study available. They run hundreds of these programs across categories, all solving one problem: what do you do with packaging your customer can't put in a curbside bin?
TerraCycle has spent close to two decades building infrastructure for exactly that gap. These programs target packaging and products that typically aren't accepted through curbside recycling because of factors such as their size, material composition, or format. TerraCycle built a parallel system: individual brands sponsor free, dedicated take-back programs for their own packaging, and TerraCycle handles the logistics and processing on the back end. It's a model that's earned them partnerships with some of the largest consumer brands in the world, precisely because it solves a problem those brands can't solve through curbside collection alone.
Here's how the underlying mechanics work: once a customer collects enough eligible packaging, they request a QR code or shipping label through FedEx or UPS, and send the box off to TerraCycle. No cleaning required beyond removing leftover product, and no cost to the customer.
Seven Programs Worth Knowing About
Most of these run as closed, brand-specific systems, meaning the sponsoring brand only takes back its own packaging. A couple break that structure and accept any brand within the category. That distinction matters if you're studying these as models: a closed system gives a brand tighter control over its own packaging stream, while an open one trades some of that control for broader participation and category-level goodwill.
Arm & Hammer's Free Recycling Program
Source: Arm & Hammer
This is one of the more straightforward programs they offer, with only one category for one brand. There are no real complications beyond the standard shipping guidelines above. Arm & Hammer keeps its own dedicated recycling page on armandhammer.com explaining the process step by step, and TerraCycle has run limited-time recycling contests tied to this specific program, entering participants to win an Arm & Hammer prize pack for shipments made during the promotional window.
How they incentivize consumers: It's the standard points-for-donation setup, but Arm & Hammer sweetens it now and then with limited-time contests, think prize packs or double-points windows, to get a spike in participation during specific promotional stretches.
Eligible products:
- Any Arm & Hammer toothpaste packaging
Bausch + Lomb's Free Recycling Program
Source: Bausch + Lomb
This is one of the programs that breaks the brand-specific products requirement. Unlike almost everything else on this list, it accepts all used contact lenses and their packaging from any brand, not just Bausch + Lomb. Where it does stay brand-specific is on the eye care products themselves. Full-size solution bottles and outer cardboard should go in your regular curbside recycling instead; they're large enough and made of the right material for standard sorting to handle. The caps are the actual problem here; they're small enough to fall out during sorting, which is exactly why they need a dedicated program instead of your recycling bin. What's notable is how this one gets promoted: rather than leaning on individual mail-in shipments, nearly 13,100 eye care practices are registered as official recycling centers, so the primary touchpoint is your optometrist's office, not a shipping label you print at home.
How they incentivize consumers: Rather than a personal points-to-donation system, the program donates $10 to Optometry Giving Sight for every 10 pounds of material collected, tying the incentive to a cause instead of an individual reward.
Eligible products:
- Contact lens cases
- Small-size contact solution (4 oz and below)
- Full-size contact solution (10 oz and above)
- Eye drop single-dose vials and foil wrapping
- Biotrue Micellar Eyelid Cleansing Wipes and foil wrapping
- Used contact lenses, any brand
- Bausch + Lomb eye drop bottles and caps
- LUMIFY Preservative Free Redness Reliever (plastic trays and paperboard sleeves)
Burt's Bees' Free Recycling Program
Source: Burt's Bees
This is the widest catalog of any single-brand program here, and it's organized by product line rather than packaging format, which actually makes it easier to scan. If it's Burt's Bees, there's a decent chance it's on this list somewhere. The brand markets this one under its own name, the "Recycle On Us" program, with its own dedicated messaging tying the initiative back to Burt's broader sustainable packaging standard, rather than presenting it as a generic TerraCycle add-on.
How they incentivize consumers: Same points-for-donation setup as most of these programs, but Burt's put its own name on it, "Recycle On Us," so it reads as part of the brand's identity.
Eligible products:
- Lip care: lip balm tubes, Flavor Crystals tubes
- Makeup: eye shadow compacts, powder foundation compacts, blush compacts, mascara tubes, lipstick sticks, tinted lip balm tubes, lip shine tubes, lip shimmer tubes, lip gloss tubes, lip crayon tubes, tinted lip oil tubes
- Skincare: towelette film wraps, facial cleanser tubes, facial treatment and exfoliant tubes, eye cream tubes, BB cream tubes, men's care tubes
- Mama and baby: lotion tubes, diaper ointment tubes, sunscreen tubes, wipes film wraps
- Burt's classics: hand and foot cream tubes
- Other: throat drop film bags, After Sun Soother tubes
Eos's Free Recycling Program
Source: Eos
This program is simple, basically their core lip and body care formats. This is the one brand on the list leaning into social content rather than press releases to drive participation. Eos launched a social media content series inviting fans to share user-generated content showing how they upcycle empty eos containers into things like succulent planters and jewelry cases, turning the recycling program into an ongoing Instagram conversation instead of a one-time announcement.
How they incentivize consumers: Standard points system as a baseline, but eos likes to sweeten the deal with sign-up windows here and there. In a specific promotion, just joining got you 100 bonus points automatically, plus a shot at winning a free eos product every week.
Eligible products:
- eos lip balms (both shapes)
- eos squeeze bottles
- eos pumps and bottles
Gillette's Free Recycling Program
Source: Gillette
This program takes any brand of razor or blade, not just Gillette. Gillette has promoted this across more channels than most brands on the list: beyond the standard mail-in option, businesses, gyms, colleges, and community organizations can sign up to become public drop-off points, and subscribers to the Gillette On Demand subscription service can recycle by repackaging used razors directly in their delivery box rather than sourcing separate packaging.
How they incentivize consumers: Gillette made the recycling process as easy as possible by using the incentive of convenience. If you're already getting Gillette On Demand shipments, you can toss used razors right back in that box, and there's a wide network of public drop-off points if you'd rather not deal with shipping labels at all.
Eligible products:
- Any brand of razor blades
- Any brand of razors
- Razor and blade packaging (paper and plastic)
Herbal Essences' Free Recycling Program
Source: Herbal Essences
Solid range of packaging formats, with only one clear exclusion worth flagging: no aerosol containers, which need a municipal program built to handle them safely. Herbal Essences has a very unique partnership called "Renew the Forest," where recycled hair care packaging collected through the program was turned into benches installed in nature preserves maintained by The Nature Conservancy. This gave the brand a tangible, physical outcome to point to in its marketing rather than just a recycling mechanic.
How they incentivize consumers: Standard points on the recycling side, but Herbal Essences also ran a purchase-driven campaign on top of it, planting a tree for every two bottles sold from a select line.
Eligible products:
- Caps
- Flexible plastic packaging
- Pumps
- Spray bottles and caps
- Tubes and caps
Beetles' Free Recycling Program
Source: Beetles
If you're in the nail category, this one's worth a closer look: Beetles Gel Polish just expanded its TerraCycle partnership. The Beetles Loves Earth Free Recycling Program launched in June 2026 as a drop-off initiative across 52 cities, backed by a network of volunteer "Recycling Ambassadors," and one participant reportedly recycled 100 empty bottles in the program's first month alone. In late July, timed to World Nature Conservation Day, Beetles expanded the program to a nationwide mail-in option — so nail artists and polish users anywhere, not just in the initial launch cities, can now send in dry, empty gel polish and nail polish bottles and their caps, from any brand, not just Beetles. The mechanics match everything else on this list: request a QR code or shipping label through FedEx, or download one via UPS, and TerraCycle recycles the glass into raw material used in construction products like brick and concrete.
What stands out here is the rewards structure. Rather than a straightforward points system, Beetles built a tiered program: submit a form after your first 10 empties and you get a discount coupon instantly, with additional milestones unlocking free product and limited-edition gift boxes for top recyclers each quarter. It's a more gamified version of the standard TerraCycle rewards mechanic, and salons, beauty schools, and organizations can sign up as Recycling Ambassadors to help extend the program into new markets. For a category that's historically had almost no recycling pathway at all, this is a notable one to watch.
Other Notable Brand Programs
Outside the beauty and personal care space, a few programs are worth a quick mention for how differently they're built: ASICS runs a closed-loop program that recycles its NIMBUS MIRAI running shoes back into new pairs, with a QR code printed directly on the shoe's tongue linking to return instructions. Brita's program covers its full pitcher, dispenser, and filter lineup, promoted primarily through in-store drop-off partnerships with retailers like Whole Foods and Staples rather than mail-in shipping alone. Babybel's program, run through parent company Bel Brands USA, covers the brand's full packaging system down to the wax coating and metal clasps, and was launched via a formal press release framing it as part of Bel's broader environmental commitments rather than a quiet program addition.
Why This Matters Beyond the Recycling Bin
The brand-specific model makes sense once you think about why brands do it this way. Sponsoring your own program means you control the packaging stream and the messaging end to end. It's a marketing surface as much as a sustainability one, and looking at how differently these seven brands promote their programs, that's clearly by design. Some lean on the product itself (ASICS' QR code), some lean on retail infrastructure (Brita's in-store bins), some lean on social proof (eos' UGC), and some lean on a bigger sustainability story entirely (Herbal Essences' benches and trees). The mechanism is the same across all of them, but the marketing wrapped around it isn't.
For brands weighing whether a free packaging recycling program is worth building, the real question is how to make the program feel like it belongs to your brand rather than a bolt-on. The Beetles tiered rewards system is a good model here: giving people a coupon after 10 bottles and a shot at something bigger down the line turns recycling into a habit worth returning to, not a one-off favor to the planet. Whatever the incentive looks like, whether it's points, product, or a bigger campaign tied to a cause, the programs that stick are the ones where sustainability isn't just a claim on the box; it's something the customer actually gets to participate in.
Exploring how your packaging choices affect recyclability down the line? Reach out to our team at [email protected] or schedule a call and we'll point you in the right direction.
