Almost 90 percent of people claim to regularly recycle in the kitchen, but when it comes to bathroom products, half of us say we simply throw our waste straight in the bin.
Even for those with greener beauty habits, while shampoo and shower gel bottles are easy to recycle, smaller items like toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes contain a complex mix of materials that makes them far harder to recycle, meaning many local councils won’t process them.
Now Colgate has launched a new free recycling scheme for all brands of toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, electric and battery toothbrush heads and floss containers.
Any individual, family or business can sign up to the scheme, which is being run by TerraCycle, and drop off their waste to 500 points around the UK.
Paper and plastic waste will be shredded and melted into pellets that can be remoulded into goods made from recycled materials. The company said it would donate £1 to charity for every 1kg that it receives.
“We really encourage people to take advantage of the programme and recycle their oral care products and packaging via the programme,” Philip Durocher, General Manager Colgate UK said.