Unilever launches its first 100% recycled plastic toothbrush

SUSTAINABLE ORAL CARE

Unilever has launched its first toothbrush made from 100% recycled plastic in France.

The new Signal Ecolo Clean toothbrush is made from 100% food-grade postconsumer recycled (PCR) plastic, while its smart design features a comfortable, ergonomic hollow handle with 40% less plastic than an ordinary toothbrush – saving 10 tonnes of plastic in its first year.

At the end of its life, the toothbrush needn’t contribute to landfill or disturb fragile ocean ecosystems. It’s 100% recyclable, thanks to a consumer-return partnership with global recycling company, TerraCycle. Consumers in France can simply return their used toothbrushes to one of a number of TerraCycle collection points where they will be recycled. This launch builds on the partnership Unilever has with TerraCycle in many countries.

The toothbrush also comes in a paper pack, which is fully recyclable.

“Signal has produced the first toothbrush to tick all the boxes on Unilever’s new commitment to creating a circular economy for plastic – cutting virgin plastic out of the process,” Unilever said in a press note.

“At the start of 2019 we launched Signal’s first bamboo toothbrush to reduce the brand’s impact on the environment. Now, with Ecolo Clean, we’ve seized this opportunity to lead a massive sustainable change in the toothbrush category,” informed Project Leader Ms. Leila Esmaeili. “And this is just the beginning. Across every part of Unilever, we have the objective to cut our use of virgin plastic by half and use 100% reusable, recyclable plastic by 2025,” she observed. Unilever plans to introduce the toothbrush in other markets as well.

INGREDIENT TRANSPARENCY

Sozio launches clean fragrance label

French fragrance supplier, Sozio, has launched a line of Clean Label fragrance formulas and in the interest of ingredient transparency will share a list all raw materials in each scent with their customers.

“Consumers are looking for safer products. They also want to minimise their impact on the environment,” said Ms. Harmonie Soudan, Regulatory Affairs Director at Sozio. “We have defined a list of blacklisted ingredients that are forbidden for use under our Clean Fragrance label. We are providing fragrances that don’t contain any controversial ingredients as well as sensitising ingredients, allergens and endocrine disruptors. We are ensuring that our clean fragrances are made without human or environmental health risks. We have also added

22 some really restrictive requirements requested by some of our customers such as nitrate or polycyclic musks. Finally, to put the environment at the centre of our approach, we guarantee the non-use of any ingredient coming from endangered wild flora,” she added.

Fragrance houses, in the interest of guarding proprietary blends and trade secrets, have been slow to adjust to the demand for ingredient transparency. But that’s changing as brands and retailers set guidelines on ingredient lists and consumers expect to know exactly what is in any given beauty product formulation.

“Being transparent is key,” emphasised Mr. Frederic Braud, General Manager at Sozio. “Today in the perfumery landscape, customers want to have access to the formula or build new guidelines that are more and more restrictive to keep control of the use of the raw materials. With our ‘Clean Fragrance’ label, we share with our clients the list of all the raw materials included in our ‘Clean Fragrance’ formulas. We understand that ‘clean’ is more than just a guideline, it is a lifestyle, a mindset philosophy and a new way of consumption. We are ready to share more information with our customers to educate them about the perfumery world, to help them make the best choice for their well-being and the environment,” he added. The new ‘Clean Fragrance; label line from Sozio is vegan, glutenfree, and made without nanomaterials. It’s free of what the company calls sensitising ingredients, allergens, and endocrine disruptors.