Dec 08, 2022

United Kingdom – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) has announced that manual toothbrushes can now be recycled through its free recycling programme for oral care waste, meaning both powered and manual toothbrushes can be given a second life through the scheme.  Philips is also welcoming new sign-ups to collect on the programme. Anyone can set up a public drop-off location by heading to the TerraCycle website and signing up to the Philips Dental Care Free Recycling Programme to start downloading shipping labels and sending their community’s dental care products and packaging to TerraCycle free of charge. 

Philips Dental Care Free Recycling Programme

The Philips Dental Care Free Recycling Programme, set up in collaboration with TerraCycle, accepts oral care products of any brand. The programme first launched in 2020 to recycle electric toothbrush heads and covers, electric flosser nozzles, flossing sticks and interdental brushes, and dental floss containers. These items are essential for maintaining high standards of hygiene for healthy teeth and gums, however they are often made from a complex mix of materials which means they are not recycled by councils. This is because the process to recycle them costs more than the recycled product is ultimately worth, making them uneconomical for local authorities to recycle.

For each parcel of waste sent in to TerraCycle, the sender will be rewarded with points redeemable as charitable donations to the school, charity or non-profit organisation of their choice. The more used dental products sent in for recycling, the more money can be raised for charity. There is a network of 249 publicly accessible drop-off locations on the Philips Free Recycling Programme for the public to leave their used oral care products to be recycled, all of which can be seen on TerraCycle’s interactive map.

Philips is increasingly becoming a sustainable consumer health technology brand, leading the way in embedding circular and sustainable practices across its operations, product design and innovation to mitigate climate change and restore biodiversity. As part of the company’s commitment to doing business responsibly and sustainably, Philips continuously works to improve the energy efficiency of its products, while optimizing the use of scarce resources, materials, and packaging across the product life cycle, in line with its global environmental ambitions. The organization has been carbon neutral its operations since the end of 2020, and through its proactive supplier sustainability program it is significantly reducing CO2 emissions across the value chain.

“Human health and environmental health go hand in hand. By looking after the planet, we contribute to the health and well-being of societies, as well as future generations,” says Jess, Gregory, Consumer Marketing Manager for Philips Oral Healthcare. “Circular design and circular product development are key to further improve energy efficiency our products, reduce materials usage, and meeting our ambitious environmental targets. We focus on using less, using longer and using again, for example by reducing the weight and volume of our product packaging and moving towards re-usable, recyclable or compostable packaging. By offering new business models, including lease options, we give products a second or third life. We are delighted to extend the partnership with Terracycle to facilitate an easy and sustainable way to dispose used oral care products, preventing products from ending up in landfill sites.”