End-to-end solutions provider Close the Loop Group (ASX:CLG) has expanded its partnership with MAC Cosmetics to support its pioneer takeback program Back-To-MAC in the US and Canada.

The company says prior to this partnership it has been supporting MAC Cosmetics in Australia for over 10 years, and that through the Back-To-MAC program, which MAC created in 1990, customers are invited to take their empty MAC packaging to participating MAC Cosmetics counters and stories, as well as return online.

Close the Loop notes about 150,000 to 200,000 kilograms of cosmetic packaging is expected to be collected for processing at its facilities situated in the US and Canada.

“We are excited to pioneer a zero waste to landfill solution for compacts, with the potential to be scaled for other products”

It is reported products will be sorted into categories and processed by the company to be recycled or remanufactured into new products through the use of its advanced recycling technology. This technology is also capable of recycling a high percentage of materials typically not recyclable through municipal streams.

The company also notes the remaining materials will be converted into energy via waste-to-energy technology, providing a zero waste to landfill solution. In addition, it is reported MAC’s signature black plastic will be processed and remanufactured into new MAC makeup compacts as part of a closed loop process.

Speaking on the extension of the partnership, Close the Loop CEO Joe Foster said: “The beauty industry produces some of the most complex items to responsibly dispose of. The varying size of products and mixed composition of the materials (combining plastics, glass, metals, foils, natural fibres, mirrors, foam, paper, and remnant products) make them difficult to sort and recycle. With this program, we’ve successfully shown that we can recycle the product. The small elements unable to be recycled will be converted into energy via waste-to-energy technology, providing a zero waste to landfill solution.

MAC Cosmetics is a leading luxury brand in sustainable solutions and paving the way for these practices to enter the mainstream beauty sector.

We are excited to pioneer a zero waste to landfill solution for compacts, with the potential to be scaled for other products. We see several opportunities for not only expanding this program to other products, but of rolling this out across the industry.

This program is a great example of how Close the Loop partners with industry leaders to assist with their ESG activities, in this case enabling end-of-line products to be efficiently collected and remanufactured into other products – a true circular economy in action.

As the only ASX-listed company operating in all parts of the circular economy, we have extensive experience in partnering with industry to help improve their licence to operate by taking responsibility for plastics and investing in innovations that reclaim products and reduce waste.”

Close the Loop Group is an ASX-listed end-to-end solutions provider from design and manufacturing, through to collection and recycling of products, with locations across Australia, Europe, South Africa, and the US. The company creates innovative products and packaging that includes recyclable and made-from recycled content, as well as collect, sort, reclaim, and reuse resources that would otherwise go to landfill.

MAC Cosmetics represents a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 and headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder (NYSE:EL) in 1998.