Most toothpaste tubes sold today are technically recyclable, but whether your local program actually accepts them is another question. The tubes have undergone a major material shift in recent years, switching from unrecyclable multi-layer laminate to a single type of plastic. That’s good news, but the recycling infrastructure hasn’t fully caught up yet. Here’s what you need to know to handle your tubes properly.
Why Toothpaste Tubes Were Hard to Recycle
Traditional toothpaste tubes were made from sheets of plastic laminate: multiple layers of different plastics sandwiched around a thin layer of aluminum. That aluminum barrier protected the toothpaste’s flavor and fluoride, but it also made the tube impossible to recycle. Recycling facilities can’t separate materials that are fused together at that scale, so these tubes went straight to landfill. Before the recent redesign, an estimated 260 million tubes were added to landfill every year.
The Switch to Recyclable Tubes
Major brands have now reformulated their tubes using a single material: high-density polyethylene, or HDPE. This is the same No. 2 plastic used to make milk jugs and shampoo bottles, which recycling facilities already process in huge volumes. Colgate led the transition, and Haleon (the company behind Sensodyne, Aquafresh, and Corsodyl) followed. The result is that most toothpaste tubes on store shelves today are made entirely from HDPE.
Getting there wasn’t straightforward. HDPE is naturally rigid, which is great for bottles but not for a tube you need to squeeze. Colgate’s engineers combined different grades and thicknesses of HDPE laminate to create a tube that stays squeezable while meeting recyclability standards. They tried PET plastic first, but it behaved more like a thin bottle than a tube, so HDPE won out.
How to Recycle Your Tube at the Curb
If your tube is made from HDPE (look for a No. 2 recycling symbol or “recyclable” label), you can prepare it for curbside recycling in a few steps:
- Squeeze out as much toothpaste as possible. You don’t need to cut it open or scrub it clean, but the emptier it is, the better it processes at the sorting facility.
- Leave the cap on. Caps by themselves are too small to make it through sorting machinery and will fall through the gaps. Keeping the cap attached to the tube gives the whole piece enough size and weight to be sorted correctly.
- Place it in your recycling bin. No special preparation beyond squeezing and capping.
There’s a catch, though. Many municipal recycling programs haven’t updated their accepted-items lists to include toothpaste tubes. Even though the material is now recyclable, recycling companies are still catching up, and most cities haven’t told residents it’s okay to put tubes in the bin. A lawsuit is even underway arguing that tubes shouldn’t be labeled “recyclable” since so many cities don’t officially accept them yet. Your best move is to check your city or county’s recycling guide online. If toothpaste tubes aren’t listed, you have two options: contact your waste hauler to ask directly, or use one of the free mail-in programs below.
Free Mail-In Recycling Through TerraCycle
Colgate sponsors a free oral care recycling program through TerraCycle that accepts toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers from any brand. Electric toothbrushes and their parts are not accepted.
You have two ways to use this program. The first is to find a public drop-off point near you through the TerraCycle website. These are locations (often schools, dental offices, or community centers) where you can simply drop off your oral care waste at no cost.
The second option is to ship your items directly. Create a free TerraCycle account and join the Colgate Oral Care program. Reuse any box you have and start filling it with your used tubes, brushes, and packaging. When the box is full, log in to your account and request a prepaid shipping label through FedEx or UPS. Seal the box, stick the label on, and send it off. Colgate covers all shipping costs.
Alternatives That Skip the Tube Entirely
If you’d rather avoid the recycling question altogether, toothpaste tablets are the most straightforward alternative. These are small, dry tablets that foam up when you chew them and mix them with saliva. You brush normally from there. The packaging is typically a glass jar, metal tin, or compostable bag, all of which are easier to recycle or compost than any plastic tube. Many brands sell larger refill bags so you reuse the original container, cutting down on packaging over time.
Pure aluminum tubes (the kind some natural brands use) are another option. Aluminum is infinitely recyclable and widely accepted in curbside programs. The key distinction is that these are solid aluminum, not the old laminate tubes that mixed aluminum with plastic layers. If the tube is magnetic, it contains steel and may need different handling. If it’s lightweight and non-magnetic, it’s aluminum and can go in with your cans.
How to Tell If Your Current Tube Is Recyclable
Flip your tube over and look for a recycling symbol with the number 2 inside it, which indicates HDPE. Some brands also print “recyclable tube” or “recycle me” directly on the packaging. If you see no recycling symbol, or if the number is anything other than 2, assume the tube is not curbside recyclable and use the TerraCycle program instead. Older tubes still in your medicine cabinet are likely the multi-layer laminate type and belong in TerraCycle’s stream rather than your curbside bin.