Colgate is launching a recycling scheme in the US and UK for its products like used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, and dental floss bottles.

Colgate’s new, nationwide recycling programme will be accepting any brand of toothbrush, toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrush outer packaging, electric and battery toothbrush heads and toothpaste cartons.

Toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes are usually made of plastic and always end up in the bin after a couple of months but we can’t ditch them because they are one of the most basic requirements if our daily requirements. We simply cannot live without them!

These items are often overlooked by regular recycling programmes as they require more than just normal recycling like toothpaste, which is most commonly packaged in squeezy plastic tubes, is sometimes lined with aluminium or an aluminium-plastic composite.

Colgate Palmolive has partnered with TerraCycle, a recycling firm to develop a recycling scheme that includes washing, separating and shredding the items before breaking them into plastic pellets. The pellets are then remoulded for inclusion in new plastic products such as outdoor furniture and fence posts.

“With the global plastics issue high on the agenda for all, the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Programme promotes sustainability,” Colgate UK’s general manager Philip Durocher said.

“We really encourage people to take advantage of the programme and recycle their oral care products and packaging via the programme and tell their friends and family about this new recycling initiative.”

In order to collect a consistent stream of end-of-life products and packaging for recycling, Colgate Palmolive has launched a website where organisations including schools, hospitals, local authorities, businesses and charities can sign up to host a public collection point. 350 organisations have already signed up to create public collection points.

Those who use the system are given a £1 donation for the school, charity or non-profit of their choice for every kilogram of product they return in the UK, with the rate standing at $0.02 per item in the US.

“Oral care products are used by all of us each and every day, so it’s one of the most frequently asked about types of products that consumers tell us they want to be able to recycle,” TerraCycle Europe’s general manager Laure Cucuron added.

SOME FAQ’s

Why should we focus on using recycled products?
Using recycled provide us with many advantages. First, it reduces the need to extract, process, and refine raw materials, the two central air and water polluters.
Plus, recycling saves energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which eventually helps in balancing climate change.

Why is it important to cycle?
Recycling is a solution to many problems- the more we recycle, the better will be our lives by reusing glass, plastic, paper and other material.

We can save both production cost and energy and eventually reduce the negative impacts extraction, and processing have on the environment.