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American multinational Colgate-Palmolive has introduced the Australian launch of a brand new toothpaste that includes a tube that’s totally recyclable – and the primary of its variety in Australia.
The product, Colgate Smile for Good, a toothpaste method “product of elements of 99.7% pure origin”, is available in a toothpaste tube categorised as recyclable beneath the Australasian Recycling Label Program. Manufactured from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) – the identical plastic used to make meals containers and two-litre milk bottles – the plastic tube may be positioned in yellow kerbside recycling bins on the finish of use.
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With Australians producing 540kg of household waste per person, each year, this recyclable packaging is an trade game-changer. Standard toothpaste tubes are usually created from a mixture of plastics inserted round a skinny layer of aluminium. Separating the supplies is what makes these tubes troublesome to recycle. As a outcome, roughly 50 million tubes are despatched to Australian landfills annually.
While the Colgate engineers had been initially not sure whether or not they might develop a squeezable tube from inflexible HDPE plastic, they had been lastly profitable in combining completely different grades and thicknesses of HDPE right into a tube that met each recycling requirements and FMCG manufacturing calls for.
It took 5 years to get the brand new packaging expertise to market, and now Colgate is sharing it with different corporations to assist the trade transition to sustainable packaging.
“Making toothpaste tubes a part of the round economic system will assist hold plastic productive and remove waste,” mentioned Simon Petersen, General Manager, Colgate-Palmolive South Pacific.
“Colgate-Palmolive needs all toothpaste tubes to satisfy the identical third-party recycling requirements that we’ve achieved, so we’re brazenly sharing our expertise with toothpaste opponents in addition to producers of every kind of tubes.”
Brooke Donnelly, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), the organisation that runs the Australasian Recycling Label Program, commented: “It’s improbable to see corporations striving to section out troublesome to recycle supplies, innovating to search out recyclable options and sharing these learnings and expertise to assist rework the broader market.”
According to a latest firm survey, 70% of respondents are involved by the impression merchandise have on the planet and their well being. Colgate Smile for Good addresses these considerations with its recyclable packaging and a responsibly made toothpaste method that’s sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-free, vegan-friendly, gluten-free and sugar-free.
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The recyclable tube is part of the corporate’s dedication to a round economic system and its work with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. It comes on the again of its different sustainability-focused initiatives equivalent to its Bamboo Charcoal Toothbrush and partnership with TerraCycle, a world chief in recycling difficult-to-recycle supplies.
Colgate-Palmolive is aiming for zero waste packaging – 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging – by 2025 throughout its operations worldwide.
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Images by way of Colgate-Palmolive.
