Oral-B has rolled out a nationwide initiative, ‘Drop Swap Smile’, with Shaver Shop and Veolia to provide Australians with a sustainable way to dispose of their used toothbrushes.
Australians can participate in Drop Swap Smile by dropping their old toothbrushes in specially designed collection bins found at Shaver Shop stores around Australia. Those who shop online can also get involved with a Drop Swap Smile envelope and pre-paid postage label offered with every purchase of an Oral-B productvia shavershop.com.au.
Manual toothbrushes, electric toothbrush handles, chargers and brush heads will be accepted and processed, regardless of brand. The pilot program of Drop Swap Smile is expected to run for a period of three months.
“Every year, millions of toothbrushes are tossed in the garbage bin because they can’t be recycled at home through regular kerbside recycling,” Procter & Gamble vice president of marketing and commercial operations for Australia and New Zealand, Zulfiqar Mahar said.
“At Oral-B, we want to help people protect the planet, as well as their smiles, which is why we’re proud to be partnering with Veolia to launch our Drop Swap Smile initiative. Backed by Veolia’s expertise in e-waste recycling and innovative end-of-life solutions, it gives Australians a new way to dispose of their old toothbrushes and divert them from landfill.”
Shaver Shop general manager for buying and customer experience, Kathleen Radford said, “We are excited to be involved with the launch of this initiative, helping our customers to reduce their contribution to landfill. The ability to provide this initiative to customers both in-store and online is something we are pleased to be able to offer through our partnership with Oral-B and Veolia.”
Working closely with Oral-B and Shaver Shop, Veolia’s team of experts will collect, sort and process used toothbrushes, ensuring their parts are either recycled or diverted from landfill.
Veolia chief technology and innovation officer, Ross Drummett said, “Toothbrushes are considered hard-to-recycle because they require dedicated sorting processes to separate and treat the materials they’re made of. As household collections don’t allow for this, it’s crucial that Australia adopts innovative disposal schemes that capture hard-to-recycle items separately, where they can be recycled and treated properly, instead of ending up in landfills.”
Oral-B is working towards Procter & Gamble’s Ambition 2030 targets, which include driving a more circular economy by helping to prevent plastic waste and other packaging from finding its way into the ocean, by collaborating with local partners and committing to global efforts as part of The Alliance to End Plastic Waste.
Making packaging more sustainable is also a focus, as the company works towards the goal of making 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2030.