The True Origins of Beauty’s Take-Back Revolution: How By Valenti®’s Circular System Inspired an Industry

By Valenti®’s True Closed-Loop Program: Innovation Rooted in Necessity & Responsibility

At By Valenti®, sustainability isn’t a PR strategy — it’s our foundation. Our 4R principle — Return, Reuse, Refill, and Recycle — was created not in response to industry trends but as a direct practical solution to the waste problem in our own facility, long before the beauty industry in the USA had anything functional in place.

A Quiet Pioneer: Our Empties Return Program™ – A First in Beauty

Launched in Michigan in 2008, our Empties Return Program™ was never a publicity stunt—it was born out of necessity. Limited recycling options in the state, combined with Italian and European standards where true recycling was expected, and the influence of Michigan’s bottle deposit system, inspired us to build a program that reflected both our roots and our responsibility.

Our soon-to-be-registered trademark, Empties Return Program™, and the original terms we introduced — Return for Cash™ and Return your Empties™ — were established years before Pact Collective or similar initiatives. Yet our pioneering work is rarely acknowledged by the brands and organizations now using the same language and structure we developed. The Empties Return Program™ is a By Valenti® innovation, with documented claim, use and branding since 2008.

Our Empties Return Program™ has evolved over nearly two decades, but its goal remains unchanged: to ensure every component is reused as much as possible to eliminate waste.

Our System, Our Standards, Our Pioneering Work

1. A System Built for the Long Term — Launched locally in 2008, nationwide since early 2012. Our Empties Return Program™ began in 2008, well ahead of any industry-wide initiatives.
2. Full Traceability — Every By Valenti® glass jar and bottle is batch-tracked from filling to final return, with each container designed to withstand repeated cycles of washing, sterilization and reuse.
3. Exponential Lifecycle for Toppers — Recognizing the environmental cost of single-use components, we pioneered a process to convert traditionally considered disposable or one-time-use packaging toppers—droppers, pumps, sprayers, and misters — into durable, reusable components. This simple but powerful change exponentially increased their usable lifespan, reducing resource consumption and their numbers in recycling facilities and landfills.
4. Radical Transparency — Clients can see exactly what happens to every container and component they return — no “wish-cycling,” no ambiguity, just measurable results.
5. Materials Matter — We walked away early on from plastics, and chose glass because of my direct connection to the glass manufacturing industry and a deep understanding of its production process. Glass is the only material that's inert, recyclable, and infinitely sterilizable — properties mandatory for any true closed-loop packaging program.
6. No “pretty seals” or vanity certifications — When we started, there were no certifications or industry standards, and no pretty seals to display on our website — so we created our own printed on the back of every label for clients to identify which bottles could be returned. Packaging decisions were made internally through research and real groundwork, selecting only viable and realistic solutions — not chasing praise or press.

How It Works

Return, Wash, Sterilize, Reuse, Recycle: Clients are encouraged to return their empties, which are then thoroughly cleaned, sterilized, refilled, and returned to the product cycle — ensuring a true closed loop. Glass that's damaged or can no longer be safely refilled is sent to glass manufacturing facilities to be used as cullet in their manufacturing process, converting them again in reusable/refillable containers.

Extending the Topper's Life Cycle: Our goal is to keep every part of our packaging in use and out of the waste stream. Toppers such as pump, misters/sprayers and droppers, as we found out, could be washed, sanitized and successfully reused almost infinitely. Items that no longer meet safety or usability are responsibly recycled through the various government led recycling programs in the EU and the USA.

Who Really Inspired the Industry?

Many brands and collectives now promote take-back and recycling programs using our trademarks and language — Empties Return Program™ and Return your Empties™ — often without acknowledgment. These efforts have raised awareness, but they were built on groundwork we at By Valenti® laid years earlier.

2008 By Valenti® launches its closed-loop return and refill program Empties Return Program™ first for local clients.
2012 By Valenti® goes national with its Empties Return Program™.
Over a decade of continuous improvement: Refined sterilization, logistics, and documentation, plus the development of our subprogram Return for Cash™.

In April 2021, Credo Beauty and MOB Beauty launched the Pact Collective, quickly gaining industry attention for installing beauty packaging take-back bins and mail-back programs. They’ve since claimed the mantle of industry “pioneers,” with glowing media coverage, bringing in brands like ILIA, Sephora, Ulta, L’Occitane, Beautycounter, Nordstrom, Saks, Pacifica, and Victoria Beckham Beauty — most joining only in the last few years. But despite the claim, these newer programs focus largely on plastics and incineration, with materials rarely achieving true circularity.

By Valenti®’s system predates them all — in launch and in substance. Most Pact brands started their take-back programs after 2021, many years after By Valenti®, following the legacy we built.

True Innovation Matters. Ethics and Honesty Matter More.

The latest wave of sustainability initiatives is encouraging, but real progress comes from intentional, circular design — starting with materials and systems chosen from day one. 

We didn’t invent circularity for the press. We engineered it to solve problems before anyone was paying attention.

What Makes By Valenti® Different?

Pioneering Reusability
By Valenti® was the first, in the beauty industry to not only identify but implement an exponential reuse of packaging — turning them from single-use to multi-use assets and setting a new standard for lifecycle management.

Genuine Circularity
Our approach goes beyond recycling — we prioritize reuse and refill, a more sustainable and effective way to reduce environmental impact.

We built a genuine system while the industry leaders took it chasing headlines and seals:

• Our packaging is designed for infinite reuse—not custom, but practical. We recognized its potential early and found cost-effective ways to recirculate it as many times as possible.
• No greenwashing, badges, or vanity certifications—our program is truly circular, not a marketing facade.
• Client participation is essential and ethically rewarded.

It’s not perfect, but it works — and improves constantly. Our Empties Return Program™ has gone through several iterations over the nearly two decades since we created it. Unfortunately not every item gets returned, but those that do never reach landfills. Recycling and circularity require collective participation; we do the groundwork but rely on consumers to close the loop.

What’s Really Happening with These “Recycling” and Close-Loop Programs?

Pact Collective claims nothing goes to landfill. But their own 2023 Impact Report shows:

• A 53% decrease in collected materials year over year.
• Ongoing challenges with contamination and low-value plastics (which almost never get recycled).
• “Waste-to-energy” is a last resort, but this means incineration — not true recycling or circularity.
• No public breakdown of exactly what percentage is truly recycled versus burned.

For all the fanfare, most “closed loop” programs aren’t really closed, and most “recycling” is actually incineration.

Setting the Record Straight 

The beauty industry — and its press — must recognize that true innovation doesn’t start with the loudest or best-funded brands, but with those who do the real work, solve real problems, and commit to real change — often without fanfare.

If you’re a beauty editor, influencer, or consumer who cares about true circularity, look beyond the headlines and see who’s genuinely leading. I promise often times it's not the one in front of the cameras.

Industry Catch-Up: Who Inspired Whom?

It’s been revealing to watch as the system we at By Valenti® pioneered nearly two decades ago appears in headlines, press releases and retail stores all over the world — often promoted as the latest breakthrough, using our original trademarks and language.

What’s not mentioned anywhere that we could find is that By Valenti® set this standard and its language, long before today’s biggest brands followed. Our Empties Return Program™ was public years before Pact Collective or any retailer’s copycat model.

Our pioneering work became the industry blueprint — sometimes mimicked, often blatantly copied, even down to details like the minimum number of bottles per return box (5), which originated from our most common shipping size box — while others claimed recognition giving instructions for work they never did. Genuine innovation deserves respect, not plagiarism for publicity.

When companies and industry leaders replicate systems — stealing them — without acknowledging their originators, sustainability becomes shallow and disconnected from real impact. In a majority women-led industry, we should know better than to take from other women.

Why This Matters

Reuse beats recycling in environmental impact and resource savings.

The sustainability movement in beauty is about more than just good intentions, marketing or publicity — it’s about real, lasting change. As the conversation grows, it’s important for clients, journalists, and industry partners to know the true history and recognize those who have quietly led the way — and taken advantage of.

We’re proud to have inspired today’s wave of programs and excited to see more brands move toward closed-loop solutions. But ethics shouldn’t be a marketing campaign — they should be a business model. Taking from smaller brands should not become the norm.

My hope as the founder of By Valenti® is that by sharing our story, we can help raise the bar across the industry and encourage even more innovation, transparency, accountability, and a more ethical leadership in hopes the leaders in the industry recognize plagiarism has no place in our industry, and that recognizing every contribution from large or small creators becomes the norm.

We led the trend — quietly, focused on real work, not media applause, but that didn't mean anyone could take it from us.

Moving Forward

There’s a troubling pattern in the beauty industry — especially among self-proclaimed “leaders,” many women-led business — where inspiration crosses into outright appropriation, plagiarism, and IP infringement. While celebrating women in business is important, ethical leadership demands more than visibility, compelling media narrative or a good story. Adopting another brand’s original ideas, language, or trademarked programs — without permission, acknowledgment, or credit—is not just unethical and disingenuous, but often illegal. Normalizing IP theft and rewriting industry history discourages real innovation and silences independent voices.

Misappropriating the work of peers, passing it off as "leadership" should never be tolerated. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time it’s happened not only to us, but many of our colleagues in the industry. Let’s demand integrity and give credit where it’s due, rather than pushing true founders and innovators out of the spotlight.

At By Valenti®, our commitment to circular packa, ging and authentic sustainability remains unchanged, despite this blatant disregard. We remain focused and continue to refine our systems, support our clients, and contribute to a more sustainable industry — spotlight or not.

We welcome collaboration and honest, respectful dialogue from anyone who truly wants to build better systems. We invite industry peers and the press to help us set the record straight, because there’s a clear line between inspiration and appropriation. To learn more, visit the original Empties Return Program™.