Retail chain Boots have launched a new in-store recycling scheme for its customers.

We've put together what you need to know about the scheme - and how you can take part.

What is the new Boots recycling scheme?

The scheme encourages customers to bring back empty hard-to-recycle products (even from brands not stocked at Boots) and get rewarded for it.

Where and when will it be available?

The initiative will be available in 50 Boots UK stores across the country from September 24, the company claim it is the first on the market to use Scan2Recycle technology.

How will it work?

Customers can simply access the technology via a dedicated Scan2Recycle website, where they can scan their empty products using their mobile phone, before heading to a participating Boots store to deposit them at a recycle point.

For every five products deposited, Boots say customers will receive £5 worth of Boots Advantage Card Points.

The deposited empties are returned directly to Boots recycling partner, ReWorked, where they are formed into new products.

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What have bosses at Boots said?

Joanna Rogers, Trading Director and VP of Beauty at Boots said: "To help our customers shop and consume more sustainably, we’re excited to launch the most inclusive recycling scheme on the market.

"Customers will be able to recycle even the most difficult health, beauty and wellness empties, from old mascaras and empty toothpaste tubes to finished lipsticks and empty vitamin pots.

"Our customers can then feel even better about treating themselves with their Boots Advantage Card points."

What other measures have Boots taken to reduce waste?

Last year, Boots became the first national pharmacy, health and beauty retailer in the UK to move to unbleached (brown) paper carrier bags, replacing plastic bags across its 2,465 stores.

In 2019, Boots Opticians stores also introduced Recyclens, the first free recycling contact lens initiative to land on the UK high street.

In 2018, Boots signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, a unique partnership for businesses across the UK with an ambition to work collaboratively to transform the UK plastic packaging sector by 2025.

In 2017, it also changed Boots own brand cotton bud stems from plastic to rolled paper, and in 2015 it removed plastic microbeads from rinse-off products ahead of the UK ban.

How to find your nearest recycling bank

To find your nearest recycling bank visit: Boots.com/Boots-recycling-scheme.