we are psyched to be transitioning our entire toothpaste portfolio to recyclable tubes. this effort began in 2022 and will be completed at the beginning of 2026, so not all tubes will immediately be recyclable. if your tube doesn’t have #2 HDPE symbol on it, please don’t put it in your recycling bin. if your tube has this symbol, yay! check to see whether your community accepts tubes for recycling. if it does, please don’t cut open the tube to try and remove excess toothpaste! instead, squeeze out as much of the toothpaste from the tube as you can and put the cap back on before placing the tube in your recycling bin or wherever your community may recycle #2 HDPE plastics. also during the processing of the tube at the recycling facility, the tube is ground up and goes through a “rinsing” process, where all the residual toothpaste is washed off the plastic. so there’s no need for you to do any rinsing at home.

the hello tube is primarily made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), #2 plastic. the cap is made of PP (Polypropylene), #5 plastic.

yes, the caps are made from #5 PP plastic, but only recyclable when still attachd to the tube. it's best to put the cap back on the tube before placing it wherever you recycle #2 HDPE plastics. please check your local recycling rules to be sure. we are continuing to research ways to convert all of ours caps into a more compatible material with the HDPE stream.

no, this tube (and plastics in general) are not designed to be biodegradable. the #2 HDPE plastic used in our tubes is designed to be “circular,” so that the material can be re-processed into new products and packaging.

our recyclable tubes are made out of #2 HDPE plastic, which is one of the most recycled plastics. HDPE can be turned into all kinds of new things, including construction materials and new packaging. switching to recyclable tubes has the potential to keep billions of tubes out of landfills.

our plan is for all of our toothpaste tubes to be recyclable by 2026. it takes time to make this transition, and during this time, some of our toothpastes will be in recyclable tubes while others won’t have transitioned yet. for now, make sure your tube has #2 HDPE icon before you recycle it.

once the tube is in the recycle stream, it gets sent to places like a materials recovery facility [MRF] where it would get sorted, then sent to a reprocessor who turns the tubes into little plastic pellets. these pellets can then get turned into new products and packaging! so you’re not actually saying goodbye to your favorite tube, just see ya later!

in 2019, our parent company Colgate-Palmolive Company’s first recyclable tube design earned recognition for technical recyclability from the APR (association of plastic recyclers), showing that tubes of the right design are compatible with HDPE #2 container recycling. we also tested the sortability of tubes; data show that our full size tubes are able to be successfully sorted with minimal mis-sorting.

we have been sharing the technology as well as the approach with tube suppliers, other brands, and any interested parties. in addition to helping the industry transition their tubes, hello, in partnership with Colgate, is focused on working with the recycling community and partnering with key third parties to address turning “recyclable” into widely accepted and “recycled.”

we are part of key collaborative efforts in the journey to recyclability for plastic squeeze tubes. these efforts are making circularity tangible and the tube transition is well underway!

even with all of these efforts, however, during this transition phase your community may not yet accept tubes for recycling. people should check with their local community programs to ensure that tubes are accepted. our goal is to continue developing innovative science that helps us get better.