Unilever has developed recyclable toothpaste tubes for its oral care brands, including Signal, Pepsodent, and Closeup, and plans to convert its entire global toothpaste portfolio to recyclable toothpaste tubes by 2025.
Traditionally, most toothpaste tubes are made of plastic and aluminum, which makes the packaging flexible but also difficult to recycle. New toothpaste tubes will use a material primarily made of HDPE to replace aluminum. HDPE is one of the most widely recycled plastics globally. It will also be the thinnest plastic material used in the toothpaste market, with a thickness of 22 microns, which will reduce the amount of plastic required for each toothpaste tube. Unilver explains that this innovation provides other companies with the opportunity to adopt similar changes to encourage wider industry adoption.
After four years of development, recyclable HDPE toothpaste tubes will be launched by Uniliver in its two largest oral care markets – France and India – later this year. The initial product launch will be in France under the company's leading oral care brand, Signal.
Babu Cherian, the Director of Oral Care Packaging R&D, explained that the recycling process for these toothpastes "will largely follow the same process as with HDPE bottles. This means that the cleaning process will be carried out at the recycling facility, and all remaining toothpaste will be washed away."
The design for recyclable toothpaste tubes has been approved by RecyClass, an organization that develops recycling standards for laboratories in Europe, as well as Asia and North America. Meeting these stringent requirements means that the new toothpaste tubes can be recycled in standard HDPE recycling streams. Cherian adds: "The aluminum barrier on the toothpaste tubes was used to preserve flavor and ensure product quality. Other brands have developed recyclable toothpaste tubes, but these tubes use more plastic than previous versions. We wanted to avoid increasing the amount of plastic in the environment, so we chose the thinnest plastic material available on the toothpaste market."
"I am proud of this latest packaging innovation," said Samir Singh, Global Executive Vice President of Unilver, responsible for skin care and oral care. "By 2025, all of our toothpaste products will be packaged in recyclable toothpaste tubes. This has been a long and challenging process, but we hope that this transition will inspire other companies to make similar changes."
Unilever explained that to further transform the entire waste management industry, Unilever is collaborating with global recycling organizations to ensure that new toothpaste tubes are collected and recycled.