Behind Colgate’s decision to share its recyclable toothpaste tube design

Colgate-Palmolive, the market leader in toothpaste, introduced recyclable toothpaste tubes under its Tom’s of Maine Brand in 2019 along with plans to completely transition to the format globally by the end of 2025. Two years later, the $19.5 billion consumer products company is on track to meet that goal; 90 percent of its U.S. brands have made the switch. 

Other companies — including rival Procter & Gamble, which will complete a conversion in Europe and North America by the same timeframe — aren’t far behind. Many were working in parallel. P&G, for example, started its transition in partnership with tube manufacturer Albea for a design certified as recyclable in December 2020.

Still, in an unusual move, Colgate shared information about its own redesign to accelerate adoption among other brands that use squeeze tubes. The motivation: Tubes are usually made from multiple layers of plastic and aluminum, making them difficult to recycle.

“We patented it as a defensive patent, and then we shared the technology,” said Ann Tracy, chief sustainability officer of Colgate. The idea was to provide other manufacturers and packaging companies with the basics of Colgate’s approach, without prescribing an exact method. 

Industry-wide adoption important to consumers, recyclers

The company held more than 80 educational sessions with manufacturers, recyclers, NGOs and retailers to encourage the conversion. It also collaborated with companies including Estee Lauder and Kenvue (the Johnson & Johnson spinout that makes Tylenol). These steps were not the norm, but seen as important for encouraging recyclers to accept the new tubes.

“There are hundreds of recycling facilities across the country that are continuously making upgrades to evolve with the changing recycling streams, but those improvements take time and capital,” said Katherine Huded, vice president of recyclability solutions at The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit focused on increasing recycling rates. 

“This collaborative engagement is important as our aim is for all tubes — not just toothpaste tubes — to be recyclable,” said Greg Corra, vice president of global packaging and sustainability at Colgate. “The fastest way to realize that is through sharing our approach, technical learnings and collaboration with the value chain, recycling industry, governments and other interested stakeholders.”

About 90 percent of toothpaste packages and 75 percent of squeezable tube packaging in North America — used for things such as shampoos and ointments — now use a recyclable design made of rigid single-layer high density polyethylene (HDPE). That’s the same material used for laundry detergent and milk bottles, according to data from consulting firm Stina, which manages the brand collaboration. 

For perspective about the potential impact in just one category, 20 billion toothpaste tubes made out of multi-layered plastic are thrown out annually. Colgate accounts for almost half of that.

Why HDPE was the material of choice

HDPE has one of the highest recycling rates for plastics, including 87 percent of U.S. facilities, said Corra. “No special equipment is needed to handle tubes where HDPE is accepted, so the work now is focusing on education and data-sharing,” he said. Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, was considered but it wasn’t available at the scale necessary for Colgate’s needs and it didn’t perform as well as HDPE, he said.

HDPE, on the other hand, was sturdy enough to be used as a single layer. It was tested extensively for consumer considerations, including:

• Bendability and squeezability — How easily the tube dispensed substances and how the shape changed as it was used. Colgate adjusted the grades and thicknesses of the HDPE to settle on the flexibility it needed. 
• Impact on flavors and ingredient integrity — One reason aluminum is included in multi-layer tubes is to preserve the taste, as well as to ensure that fluoride doesn’t degrade quickly, said Tracy. “Tubes may sound very simple, but if you don’t make them right, your fluoride degrades, flavors degrade.”

Updates required to manufacturing, recycling processes

Colgate upgraded its tube forming and filling equipment to accommodate the switch, which required internal changes and investments by its partners, said Corra. The capital came from a program that dedicates 5 percent of a facility’s annual budget to projects that reduce energy, water or waste. That initiative is funded by Colgate’s sustainability bond.  

The biggest change required by recyclers comes in the sorting processes, because tubes are much smaller than the HDPE packaging they handle today. Colgate teamed up with New Jersey’s Mazza Recycling to track the sorts of education that might be needed to increase tube recycling rates. It tapped AI company Glacier, funded by Amazon, to track how facilities handle the tubes. 

“Sortation and capture of HDPE tubes in [materials recovery facilities, or MRFs] and resident education as to whether the tubes are accepted for recycling in that program are current obstacles preventing more communities and MRFs from accepting HDPE tubes,” said Huded. “Any ‘new’ container type will face adoption curve challenges as its acceptance increases.”  

Just because something is recyclable doesn’t mean it’s recycled

While you’ll find Colgate’s recyclable claim on the tubes, the company has not marketed the innovation widely because it wanted to make sure recyclers could handle the tubes, said Tracy.

It was sued in August 2023 in the form of a class action complaint in California that accuses the company of deceptive advertising. The suit claims only a “miniscule” number of facilities can handle the tubes because of sorting challenges and because it is difficult to empty them completely, which results in contamination. Colgate’s motion for dismissal was denied in February.

“We believe the claims in this lawsuit are without merit,” Colgate said in a statement. “We’re proud to have pioneered a first-of-its-kind toothpaste tube as recyclable and to have shared our technology with others to speed the industry-wide transformation we see today.”