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Spotlight on Sugarcane-Based Toothpaste Tube

Free-from oral care company Spotlight meets its goal of providing 100% recyclable packaging for its line of toothpaste, using biopolymer tubes made from sugarcane-based polyethylene.

The biopolymer tube is being used for Spotlight’s line of five toothpaste varieties, each formulated for a specific concern.
The biopolymer tube is being used for Spotlight’s line of five toothpaste varieties, each formulated for a specific concern.

According to a number of sources, it’s estimated that 400 million toothpaste tubes in the U.S. and 1.5 billion globally are discarded in landfills every year. Among the oral care companies leading the charge to change this is Spotlight Oral Care. Based in Ireland and launched in 2016 by practicing cosmetic dentists and sisters Dr. Lisa and Dr. Vanessa Creaven, Spotlight has a goal to revolutionize the oral care industry by creating a range of products that are cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, free from toxins, ocean safe, and 100% recyclable.

With its toothpaste tubes, Spotlight has met the goal of 100% recyclability by using Braskem’s I’m green™ brand of bio-based polyethylene, a drop-in bioplastic that provides the same functionality as petroleum-based plastics, including 100% recyclability.

Says Dr. Lisa Creaven, “Generic toothpaste tubes are made from a combination of materials, including crude oil and aluminum, which makes them non-recyclable. Sugarcane is one of the greatest carbon sinks that exists, metabolizing CO2 as it grows and regenerating itself from its own roots. Grown in Brazil using fair labor, each ton of Green Polyethylene produced captures up to 3.09 tons of CO2, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our tubes are fully recyclable and won’t end up contaminating our precious oceans.”


Watch video   Watch this Take Five video, "Brushing up on Toothpaste Innovations"

The biopolymer tube is being used for Spotlight’s line of five toothpaste varieties, each formulated for a specific concern, for example, cavities, bad breath, gum health, and others. The 3.5-oz package is decorated by offset printing, with a crisp, white background and color coding with pastel colors to differentiate the varieties. The tube uses a polypropylene cap supplied by Witoplast.

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