The Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Programme - FAQ

Anyone based in mainland UK or the Isle of Wight can participate in our recycling programmes. Unfortunately people based in the following locations cannot participate at this time: the Hebrides, Isle of Mann, Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, Isles of Scilly, Jersey or Guernsey. This is due to logistical reasons but please be assured the TerraCycle® Operations Team are looking into solutions for us to provide free recycling programmes in these locations in the future. We apologise for any inconvenience.

1) Drop off your oral care products and packaging at your nearest public drop-off location

Find your nearest public drop-off location on the interactive map on the programme page and drop off any accepted oral care products and packaging during the opening hours.

To learn more about public drop-off locations, please click here.

2) Set up a public drop-off location

If there are no public drop-off locations near you, you can set up your own. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Create a TerraCycle® account
2. Find a public place to host your collection (with the prior consent of the person in charge of the place)
3. Fill out this form to finalise your request

Please note that you have more chances to be selected to open a public drop-off location if you live more than 5 miles away from an existing public drop-off location for this scheme.

To learn more about what public drop-off locations are and what it involves to set up one, please click here.

Once you are a member of the programme (by setting up a public drop-off location) and when you are ready to send a shipment, please follow these steps:

1. Download a free UPS label from your account
2. Print your label out
3. Attach your label to your parcel
4. Simply book a free pick-up via UPS by calling 03457 877 877 or book online via this link. Alternatively, you can also drop off your parcel at your closest UPS drop-off point, which you can find here. 

The following types of oral care products and packaging are accepted in the programme: 

• Any brand of toothpaste tubes and caps
• Any brand of toothbrush outer packaging
• Any brand of toothpaste cartons
• Any brand of electric and battery toothbrush heads
• Any brand of plastic toothbrushes
• Any brand of floss containers and outer packaging

Please note that the following types of oral care products and packaging are not accepted in the programme:

• Any toothbrushes not made from plastic
• Interdental brushes
• Battery operated toothbrushes
• Dental floss (string)
• Mouthwash plastic bottles
• Breath sprays
• Denture adhesives packaging
• Denture tablets packaging
• Denture cream tubes
• Outer packaging that did not contain toothbrushes or dental floss
• Cartons that did not contain toothpaste
• Tubes that did not contain toothpaste
• Toothpaste pumps
• Toothache kits

For more information, please consult our Accepted Waste Poster.

Once you have joined the Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Programme, you can print a shipping label by logging into your TerraCycle® account and by clicking on "my account". Then simply click on the "send us your waste" button and then on "create free postage label". You will receive your label by email, you must then print it and stick it on your parcel. You can download as many labels as you have parcels to send.

You can use any cardboard boxes for sending your waste, however these boxes must be clean and sturdy. Once you have your box, put your waste directly in it (and possibly in a plastic bag beforehand), close it well and stick the prepaid shipping label on the box (the shipment is of course completely free).

Once you have downloaded and printed your shipping label, please send us your waste by ordering a free pick-up via UPS by calling 03457 877 877 (UPS will collect at your location). You can also drop-off your parcel at your closest UPS drop-off point, which you can find here. 

If you have not received your points within two months after your shipment was sent, please contact us so that we can investigate it for you.

Once received by TerraCycle®, your oral care products and packaging are sorted and separated by material composition. The separated items are then cleaned, shredded, and made into new recycled products. Click here to learn more about the recycling process.

You must send at least one shipment every 6 months. If you do not send a shipment within 6 months, you might be removed from the programme to allow other people to participate. If you are removed from the programme, you will receive an email notifying you about this.

For each shipment over 200 grams for the Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Programme, you will receive TerraCycle® points. You will receive 100 points per kilo. 100 TerraCycle® points represents £1.

To redeem your points as financial donations, a minimum of 1,000 points or £10 is required.

All points redeemed between the 1st of May and the 31st of October will be donated in December. Points redeemed between the 1st of November and the 30th of April will be donated in June.

To redeem your points for the charity or school of your choice, simply log in to your TerraCycle® account and go to the "my charities" tab. Once on this page, TerraCycle® offers 3 ways to choose a charity:

1. Redeem your points to a TerraCycle® partner charity by clicking on "redeem" and by choosing one of the charities from the drop-down menu.
2. Add the charity or school of your choice by clicking on "add charity". Please check if this charity is not already registered on our website first by looking for the charity in the search bar at the top of the page. If you cannot find it, please fill in the fields for creating a new charity. Once completed, validate the form and do not forget to send us the bank details through this form to [email protected].
3. Choose a charitable gift by clicking on "redeem". You will find the list of charitable gifts in the field of the environment, the fight against hunger, education, childhood or prematurity at the bottom of the page. Then simply select the gift and click on "redeem".

If you have chosen to donate to a charity (either by selecting an existing charity or by adding a new one), you must choose the number of points you wish to redeem (as a reminder, you must convert a minimum of 1,000 points).

Check the contents of your cart and click on "checkout" to close the transaction.

If you wish to stop collecting this waste, log in to your account, select the "my recycling programmes" tab and click on the small grey cross to the right of the name of the Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Programme.