‘DROP SWAP SMILE’

An initiative to help divert toothbrushes from landfill

 ‘DROP SWAP SMILE’ initiative to help divert toothbrushes from landfill

  • Australians use millions of toothbrushes each year to maintain their oral health
  • These items cannot be recycled via household kerbside recycling with many ending up in landfill
  • Launched together with Veolia and Shaver Shop, Oral-B’s DROP SWAP SMILE initiative aims to help change this by giving Australians a new way to dispose of their used toothbrushes more sustainably

 

 Oral-B, the number one toothbrush brand recommended by dentists worldwide1, announces the launch of DROP SWAP SMILE – a nationwide initiative launched with Veolia and Shaver Shop that gives Australians a new way to dispose of their used toothbrushes more sustainably. 

Launching this week in-store and online via Shaver Shop, Australia’s largest retailer of premium electric toothbrushes, DROP SWAP SMILE aims to reduce the amount of manual and electric toothbrushes that end up in landfill. The pilot program will run for a period of 3 months.

Zulfiqar Mahar, Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Operations at P&G ANZ, said: “Every year, millions of toothbrushes are tossed in the garbage bin because they can’t be recycled at home through regular kerbside recycling. That’s millions of toothbrushes that are making their way to landfill.”

“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, DROP SWAP SMILE gives Australians a new way to dispose of their old toothbrushes and divert them from landfill.” 

 

Australians can participate in DROP SWAP SMILE by dropping their old toothbrushes in specially designed collection bins found at Shaver Shop stores around Australia2. Those who shop online can also get involved with a DROP SWAP SMILE envelope and pre-paid postage label offered with every purchase an Oral-B product via shavershop.com.au3.

The following used items will be accepted and processed via the program, regardless of brand:

  • Manual toothbrushes
  • Electric toothbrush handles, chargers and brush heads

Participants are asked to thoroughly wash the items beforehand to help ensure the waste stream remains clean, so the items are eligible for processing and recycling. 

Ross Drummett, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Veolia, 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.”

“Working closely with Oral-B and Shaver Shop, our team of experts will collect, sort and process used toothbrushes, ensuring their parts are either recycled or diverted from landfill. The individual efforts of consumers who use this program will make a big collective difference. We hope that many people get involved and join us on the journey towards ecological transformation.”

Kathleen Radford, General Manager – Buying and Customer Experience at Shaver Shop, 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.” 

 

Part of the P&G family, Oral-B is working towards the company’s Ambition 2030 targets. This includes driving a more circular economy with the goal of helping prevent plastic waste and other packaging from finding its way into the ocean, by collaborating with local partners like Veolia 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.

Mahar explained: “As a global leader in oral care, we have a responsibility to help transform people’s health while also reducing our impact on the planet.” 

“Our new DROP SWAP SMILE initiative is just one way we are taking action to reduce our environmental lifecycle impact and we’re excited to work together with our partner Veolia, Shaver Shop, and the community to achieve this. It’s collaborative efforts like these that will help enable people, the planet and our business to thrive.”

The new Oral-B DROP SWAP SMILE initiative starts from 20 September 2021. Australians that ‘drop’ their old toothbrush and ‘swap’ it for a new Oral-B electric toothbrush can ‘smile’ knowing they have helped divert waste from landfill whilst also enjoying the many benefits of Oral-B’s leading, dentist-inspired power oral care range, including up to 100% more plaque removal5

- Ends -

 

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

For information about DROP SWAP SMILE, visit www.oralb.com.au/dropswapsmile

To learn more about P&G Ambition 2030 sustainability goals, head to https://anz.pg.com/environmental-sustainability/

 

References

1 Based on surveys of a representative worldwide sample of dentists carried out for P&G regularly. 2 Collection bins will be available in participating Shaver Shop stores from 20/09/2021 until 31/12/2021. Some Shaver Shop stores may be closed due to government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions, which are subject to change at any time. All decisions on pricing and promotions are at the sole discretion of the retailer. 3 An envelope and postage-paid label will be offered with each purchase of an Oral-B product via ShaverShop.com.au from 20/09/2021 until 31/12/2021 to allow consumers to send their used toothbrush to Oral-B via regular post. This offer is not available to residents of South Australia due to regulations that prohibit the unlicensed transport of waste, inter- and intra-state. 4Veolia aims to recycle clean, uncontaminated electronic components as e-waste. Plastic components that are non-recyclable will be subjected to thermal treatment, with only residual ash being sent to landfill. The percentage recycled will depend on the recycling market at the time, as well as the condition of the waste materials. 5vs a regular manual toothbrush.

 

About Oral-B / P&G
Oral-B® is the worldwide leader in the over $5 billion brushing market. Part of the Procter & Gamble Company, the brand offers manual and electric toothbrushes for children and adults, toothpastes and mouthwashes, whitening systems and interdental products, such as dental floss. 

About Veolia

Veolia group aims to be the benchmark company for ecological transformation. With nearly 179,000 employees worldwide, including 4,600 in Australia and New Zealand, the Group designs and provides game-changing solutions that are both useful and practical for water, waste and energy management. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and replenish them. In 2020, the Veolia group supplied 95 million people with drinking water and 62 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 43 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 47 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environment (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €26.010 billion in 2020. Veolia operates across more than 200 locations within the Australia and New Zealand region www.veolia.com/anz      

About Shaver Shop

Shaver Shop is an Australian and New Zealand speciality retailer of male and female personal grooming products and largest retailer of electric toothbrushes. It prides itself on its product knowledge and aims to offer customers the possible advice at the lowest price.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

 

Skye McParland 

Veolia: External Communications

 M:+61 427 319 881

E: [email protected]

 

Sarah Keldie

Fuel Communications on behalf of Oral-B

M: +61 439 827 161

E: [email protected]