Horsham dental practice recycle the unrecyclable for school fundraiser

Michelle Skeet, practice manager at Eastmews Dental Care, signed up to the Colgate and Hello Oral Care Recycling Programme offered by TerraCycle, the world leaders in recycling hard-to-recycle waste.

Horsham residents are being encouraged to recycle their oral care waste at Eastmews Dental Care, saving it from landfill and raising funds for Friends of Trafalgar School in the process.

A public drop-off point at the practice has been set up, where residents can drop off their oral care products, including plastic toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and caps and plastic toothbrush outer packaging.

This type of waste is rarely included in kerbside recycling collections, meaning it is usually destined for landfill or incineration.

Ms Skeet explains: “The nature of good oral care means we all replace and use a lot of products, and generate a lot of waste in the process. But just because it isn’t collected by the council doesn’t mean it can’t be recycled. When we found out we could be a drop-off location for TerraCycle to recycle the waste, we jumped at the chance to do our bit.

“We’ve collected more than 2,000 pieces of waste since we opened the location, and we’d encourage everyone in the community to make use of it if they’re not already. Not only does it give used oral care products a second life, it’s benefitting a local school and our community too.”

The drop-off point is open Monday to Friday, from 8.15am to 5pm.

For more information or to get involved, visit www.terracycle.com/en-GB.

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