Northamptonshire council urged to step up recycling
WRAP, based at Silverstone, is urging councils to ensure more items, such as toothpaste tubes, are added to household collections
WRAP has announced that all toothpaste tubes sold nationwide are now recyclable, with calls for more local councils to add them to household collections.
Each year, more than 252 million toothpaste tubes are sold in the UK.
Traditionally, tubes were a “recycling nightmare” due to a layer of aluminium inside the packaging.
They are now made from the same high-density polyethylene plastic used in milk bottles, bleach bottles and many other everyday items, making them “technically 100% recyclable.”
Helen Bird, Head of Material Systems Transformation at WRAP, based at Silverstone in Northamptonshire said: "We use 252 million of these tubes every year in the UK and we've been working with the biggest manufacturers of toothpaste to make their toothpaste tubes recyclable. But of course, this doesn't just rely on the business.
"For things to be recyclable, it's important that all of us play our part, because if we put them in the bin, then these tubes will go to waste.
"What we're also calling for is the councils to review the materials that they're telling people that they can recycle.
"So our campaign is not just to people to say, you know, let's work and make sure that we're recycling them where we can. It's also asking the local authorities to review their services and communicate with their householders."
Currently, 37 councils are collecting toothpaste tubes at the kerbside, including West Northants Council, but not North Northants Council. But under new “Simpler Recycling” legislation, all local authorities will be required to accept them by March 2026.
Ms Bird highlighted the importance of making it easier for people to recycle: "Although there are places where we can take recycling, that's not going to be for everybody. And it's important that recycling is for everybody, embraces everyone in all manner of their lives, and so that's why collections directly from our homes are really important. But it's having a collection service alone is not enough.
"All of us, we need to take part in recycling and remembering to recycle not just the things from the kitchen, which we're pretty good at recycling, but the things from the bathroom, including toothpaste tubes and toilet rolls and shampoo bottles, aerosols."
Labels can indicate whether an item is recyclable, with the organisation urging residents to check them before throwing them away.
The website recyclenow.com can also detail where the nearest recycling point is, by entering a postcode.