Greener Living
Colgate’s 9 Billion Toothpaste Tubes Defy Effort to Recycle Them
Making packaging that can be reclaimed is only one step in a lengthy process.
Colgate developed a recyclable toothpaste tube, but consumers lack access to collection systems that accept them.
Photographer: Lanna Apisukh/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Colgate-Palmolive Co. spent years devising a recyclable toothpaste tube. Pulling it off was a technical masterstroke, substituting plastic for a mix of materials that was historically tough to reclaim. The result, one executive said, was “nice squeezability.”
One big problem remains: Many sorting centers around the US don’t accept them.