Colgate-Palmolive México has declared its first recyclable toothpaste tube manufactured from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is also recognized as plastic No. 2, succeeding five years of study and development. Traditionally, toothpaste packaging has posed substantial challenges for recycling skills because of its multilayer formation, which links aluminum and several other plastics. These levels, often collected of low-density polypropylene and polyethylene, are important for maintaining flavor and product quality but are problematic to separate using traditional mechanical recycling procedures.
The new packaging is a major element of the industry’s "Design with Purpose" plan. Its monomaterial structure permits the tube to be managed through presented recycling streams for plastic bottles, removing the requirement for specialized arrangement or partition. “This milestone changes our packaging into a mono-material completely compatible with the presented plastic bottle recycling processes, removing the requirement for extra separation stages and enabling resource recovery,” the company expressed in a press release. The plan has been recognized as strictly recyclable by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR)
Mexico is the second-largest market worldwide for Colgate-Palmolive’s oral care goods. Nevertheless, the country’s recycling structure stays restricted, with specialized industries like TerraCycle administering only a modest portion of assembled toothpaste packaging. To support increased recovery charges, Colgate-Palmolive proposes to implement pilot collection programs in Mexico to recycle and recover the new tubes
The initiative allies with both worldwide and domestic sustainability targets. As per Colgate-Palmolive’s 2024 Sustainability Report, 93% of the industry’s packaging is now compostable, recyclable, or reusable, up from 89.5% in 2023. In Mexico, the plan confirms the goals of the National Agreement for the Circular Economy of Plastics, which aims to achieve fully recyclable packaging and increase the use of recycled materials. Tehicú Valenzuela, senior manager of packing sustainability improvement, Colgate-Palmolive México, expressed that the new tube preserves product safety while fulfilling customer expectations for functionality and convenience.
16 June 2026
16 June 2026
16 June 2026
16 June 2026