Posted by Support Team
on July 17, 2026
July is Plastic Free July - a global campaign that started with 40 people in Western Australia in 2011 and has since grown into one of the world's largest environmental movements, with over 174 million participants across 190 countries taking part every year. The idea is simple: reduce your reliance on single-use plastic throughout July and beyond, and collectively make a real dent in one of the planet's biggest pollution problems.
The beauty industry is one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste globally - billions of bottles, tubes, pumps, and caps end up in landfill every year, many of which could have been recycled or replaced with better alternatives. It's a lot. But it's also an area where small, consistent choices genuinely add up.
So, this Plastic Free July, here's a look at what you can do to make your bathroom a little greener - and where Delhicious fits into all of it.
Why Beauty Packaging Is Such a Big Problem
The average person uses around 11 personal care products a day. That's a lot of packaging - and most of it is plastic. The issue isn't just the volume; it's that beauty packaging is often made from multiple materials combined together (think a plastic bottle with a metal spring inside a pump), which makes it really hard to recycle properly. A lot of it ends up in the general waste bin even when people want to do the right thing, simply because it's not clear what goes where.
The good news is that awareness is growing, brands are being held to higher standards, and there are some genuinely simple swaps that make a real difference.
Simple Ways to Reduce Plastic in Your Beauty Routine
Choose products with recyclable or sustainable packaging
The single most impactful thing you can do is pay attention to what your products come in before you buy them. Look for glass, aluminium, paper, or cardboard packaging where possible - these are all widely recyclable and far less damaging than virgin plastic. When plastic is used, look for HDPE or PET, which are among the most widely accepted plastics in UK recycling collections.
Look for the recycling symbols - and actually use them
Most packaging has recycling information printed on it, but it's easy to ignore. Before you throw something in the bin, check the symbols - you might be surprised how much of your bathroom can be recycled. When in doubt, check your local council's recycling guidelines, as what's accepted varies by area.
Consolidate your routine
One of the most underrated ways to reduce packaging waste is simply using fewer products. A well-chosen oil that doubles as a pre-wash treatment and a scalp nourisher is one bottle instead of two. A shampoo that genuinely cleanses without stripping means you don't need a separate scalp treatment. Less is more - for your hair, your skin, and your recycling bin.
Finish what you have before switching
It sounds obvious, but buying new sustainable products before finishing the ones you already have isn't actually that green. The most sustainable product is often the one you've already got. Commit to finishing things before replacing them, and when you do replace, make a more conscious choice.
Where Delhicious Stands on Packaging
We'll be honest - we're not perfect, and plastic-free packaging across an entire beauty range is genuinely difficult to achieve. Some formats just don't have a viable plastic-free alternative yet, and some products require certain materials for safety, product integrity, or shelf-life reasons.
What we do try to do is make thoughtful choices wherever we can.
Our Rich Roots Hair Oil and Moon Moisture Drops both come in glass bottles - one of the most recyclable and inert packaging materials available, and a genuine alternative to plastic where it works. Our Migh-Tea Moisture Balms come in a paper push-up tube or jar - no plastic at all.
Across the rest of the range, we use a mix of materials including HDPE bottles, PET bottles, aluminium tins, and paper outer boxes. Where we do use plastic, we've made sure all our packaging carries clear recycling symbols so you always know exactly what can go where. We'd rather be upfront about that than pretend we've cracked something we haven't.
The beauty industry as a whole still has a long way to go on packaging - and so do we. But we think about it, we make the best choices we can with each product, and we're always looking at what can be improved.
How to Recycle Your Delhicious Packaging
All Delhicious packaging carries the standard recycling symbols - check these before disposing of anything. As a general guide:
Glass bottles - recyclable kerbside in most UK areas. Remove any pump or dropper first.
Aluminium tins - widely recyclable kerbside. Rinse out before recycling.
Paper boxes and paper tubes - recyclable with cardboard in your kerbside collection.
HDPE and PET plastic bottles - both widely accepted in UK kerbside recycling collections. Check the symbol on the base of the bottle to confirm.
Pumps, sprayers, and caps - these are trickier as they often combine materials. Check your local council guidelines, or look for a local beauty recycling scheme such as TerraCycle, which accepts hard-to-recycle beauty packaging.
The Bigger Picture
Plastic Free July isn't about being perfect - it's about being more conscious. Swapping one product, recycling one more thing, choosing glass over plastic once - it all adds up. 86% of participants say the changes they made during the month stuck around year-round, which means July is really just the starting point.
The beauty routine is one of the easiest places to start making greener choices, because you're buying these products regularly anyway. A small shift in what you reach for makes a difference every single time.
Happy Plastic Free July - from all of us at Delhicious.
