By Rossana Gama, Country Manager of Grupo Boticário Portugal
True beauty only makes sense on a planet with a future. That is why, at Grupo Boticário, sustainability cannot live only in rhetoric: it must be present in business decisions, in how we design our stores, in the solutions we create for our consumers, and in the responsibility we assume for the impact of our packaging. In Portugal, one of the most concrete expressions of this commitment is Boti Recicla, our reverse logistics program for beauty packaging.
Boti Recicla was born from the conviction that our packaging tells stories of beauty, self-care and well-being, but should not represent a final point for the planet. By creating this program, we take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of these packaging and invite consumers to be part of this change with us. More than collecting waste, we want to help transform behaviours and bring circularity closer to people’s daily lives, making simple what often still seems distant or complex.
And precisely this is what we are materializing now with the expansion of the program to 100% of our store network in Portugal. The mechanics were designed to be simple, clear and accessible: we invite our customers to drop off two empty bottles of the brand at the nearest store, and in exchange, we offer 5 euros to use on a purchase of 30 euros or more, on the same day. We took care to design this process friction-free, because we believe sustainability only scales when it fits into the real life of each consumer. Keeping two empty bottles and bringing them on a future visit is a small gesture, but one that, repeated by thousands of people, yields a significant impact.
For me, this journey has a special meaning. As Country Manager of Grupo Boticário in Portugal, I believe that being sustainable is not about adding a layer of communication to an already established business; it’s about incorporating responsibility criteria into every relevant decision. It was precisely this ambition that led us to look at the complete lifecycle of our packaging and ask: what happens after use? The answer could not be left to chance. If we want to talk about a circular economy, we cannot do it only in theory: we must create systems that ensure materials return to the correct cycle.
Two years after the first step at CascaiShopping
This journey in Portugal began to take shape in a much more tangible way two years ago. On June 5th, World Environment Day, we marked not only the second anniversary of the program in national territory, but also two years since the opening of O Boticário Lab at CascaiShopping, a space that was born to mirror and amplify the sustainability commitments that the Group has historically assumed. This store brings together innovation, experience and a more sustainable approach, to make these practices even more visible and tangible to the public. It was there also that we took the first steps of Boti Recicla in the Portuguese market, testing how we could bring everyday client recycling closer to reality.
That is why O Boticário Lab remains very symbolic to us. There, waste gains a new life: the four-square-meter facade was made from more than 280 recycled plastic bottles, and the shelves were produced with an innovative material made from end-of-life appliances and disposable cutlery. This store concept showed that it is possible to translate a sustainable positioning into tangible experiences. Customers realize, upon entering, that there is care in every detail: from how we choose materials to how we invite them to extend the life of the packaging through refills and recycling. The success of this pilot experience, which we also extended to nine more stores, gave us the confidence and the framework needed to now expand Boti Recicla to all our stores.
A country below the European recycling target
This evolution is especially relevant in a context where the country’s environmental challenge is collective and urgent. According to data from the Portuguese Environment Agency and Sociedade Ponto Verde, our partner in this project, in Portugal, each inhabitant generates on average 1.4 kg of waste per day, and the country fell short of the European packaging recycling target for 2025, with a rate of 60.2%, well below the 65% required. In light of this reality, brands must stop looking at packaging merely as the end of a sale and begin to view it as post-consumption responsibility as well. It is this shift in perspective that Boti Recicla seeks to materialize, by turning our stores into collection points and education hubs for more responsible consumption.
In Grupo Boticário, this vision is not isolated. It is part of a broader ESG commitments agenda and targets set through 2030 in the global operation, among which includes the objective of collecting and diverting to recycling at least the equivalent of 45% of the year’s packaging waste, reinforcing a circular economy logic across the entire value chain. Boti Recicla is, therefore, much more than a one-off action: it is a concrete expression of a deeper transformation in how we understand innovation, consumption and responsibility. When we think of 2030, we are not just talking about numbers in reports; we are talking about the kind of legacy we want to leave to future generations.
In a sector like beauty, talking about the future demands desirable products, but also responsible choices; demands innovation, but with a positive impact; convenience for the consumer, but never losing sight of the planet we live on. This is the more conscious, more circular beauty, more committed to tomorrow that we want to keep building in Portugal. And it is exactly this path that Boti Recicla helps, every day, to make possible, bottle by bottle, gesture by gesture.
Article published in issue No. 23 of Green Savers magazine.
