London-Plastic pollution is a huge problem: by 2040, more than one billion tons of plastic waste will end up in the ocean or landfills.

The beauty industry is one of the many factors that cause plastic waste, but it is a complex problem and there is no simple solution.

Mark Davis, who is in charge of the community fair trade program at the beauty company The Body Shop, explains that one option is to use plastic waste as a raw material. The plan is an ethical procurement plan, established in 1987, and currently accounts for about 25% of the company's raw material budget. The company sources raw materials such as shea butter and Nepalese paper gift boxes from Ghana.

The plan has now begun to source waste plastics from Bangalore, India, for packaging.

In some development houses, trash pickers make a living by trading trash in potentially dangerous and dirty informal industries. The body repair shop is working with the purchasing company Plastics For Change to help it purchase plastics while providing better conditions for workers.

"We need the best quality bottles, we need to use them at the right time and in the right place.... It's like the way we work with shea (ingredients), this is how we work with Brazil nuts, This is how we work with Mango," Davis told CNBC on the phone.