Connecticut AG probes recycling claims on HDPE toothpaste tubes

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is investigating complaints from an advertising watchdog that "recyclable" claims on much-touted high density polyethylene toothpaste tubes from Colgate-Palmolive Co. break laws around green marketing.

The group Truth in Advertising filed formal complaints on Sept. 11 with Tong, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Federal Trade Commission alleging that recyclability claims for the tubes deceive consumers and should be scaled back. The group said FTC and states should use the complaint to crack down broadly on green marketing based on technical recyclability, rather than recycling in practice.

Colgate disputes the allegation and says it's properly labeling the 100 percent HDPE tubes, which it has been rolling out for several years, as a better alternative to traditional multilayer plastic and aluminum toothpaste tubes that are largely unrecyclable.

And it said it's been sharing the technology with other companies in an effort to build scale and make the ubiquitous consumer product more widely recycled.

Tong, who has been active on other plastics and recycling issues, said in a statement that he's investigating the complaint.

"Attorney General Tong is aware of complaints that Colgate toothpaste tubes are improperly labeled as recyclable, and he is investigating those complaints," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton. "Greenwashing and deceptive advertising are potentially violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, and the attorney general is dedicated to protecting consumers by enforcing that law."

Both FTC and Bonta's office declined to comment.

In its complaint, Truth in Advertising said that while it's "admirable" that Colgate is trying to develop a tube that may one day be recycled, right now they aren't being collected at anywhere close to the 60 percent recycling access levels required for broad claims in FTC's Green Guides for environmental marketing.

It wants the agencies to clip Colgate's language and said the company "should not be making any recycling claims until it can fully comply with the FTC Green Guides."

"Colgate-Palmolive is engaging in a quintessential case of greenwashing by marketing its toothpaste tubes as recyclable and taking advantage of eco-conscious consumers who make purchasing decisions they believe benefit the environment," said Bonnie Patten, TINA's executive director.

But Colgate said the watchdog group's allegations "are without merit" and said that both its Colgate and Tom's of Maine brands, which use the tubes, qualify their claims by telling consumers they need to check with their local recycling facilities.

It said it's worked to develop tubes entirely from HDPE because it's one of the most recycled plastics in the U.S.

"Importantly, and despite the technical challenges, we chose to make our tubes from high density polyethylene, the same plastic used for detergent bottles and milk jugs, to be compatible with the No. 2 HDPE bottle recycling stream," Colgate said. "That stream is one of the most widely accepted in the U.S., and HDPE has among the highest plastic recycling rates.

"We're proud to have pioneered a first-of-its-kind toothpaste tube recognized as recyclable and to have shared our technology with others to speed the industrywide transformation we see today, with all major toothpaste brands publicly committing to transition their tube portfolios," the New York-based consumer goods maker said.

In its most recent sustainability report, Colgate said that other brands have also pledged to move to recyclable tubes by 2025, claiming that "at least 75 percent of the 20 billion toothpaste tubes that are used annually will become recyclable."

It said that since it introduced the new design in 2019, it has transitioned 77 percent of its tubes in North America to the recyclable design and plans to move 95 percent of them by the end of 2023.

"Our goal is to transition the remainder of our toothpaste portfolio to the recyclable tubes in the U.S. by 2023 and by 2025 globally," the company said. "We are making significant progress in our efforts to transform the toothpaste category and, so far, have shared our tube technology by holding over 70 sessions with the packaging industry, NGOs and other consumer product companies."

But Truth in Advertising said that Colgate is using a "theoretical or technical" definition of recyclability to support its marketing claims and is ignoring on-the-ground realties.

In its filing, it presented statements from the three largest waste management and recycling haulers in the U.S. — Waste Management Inc., Republic Services Inc. and Waste Connections — that they do not currently accept tubes for recycling. Those companies operate more than 60 percent of the materials recovery facilities in the U.S., the group said.

As well, it noted comments from the private waste industry's main trade group at a May 23 FTC hearing on recyclability claims that until all toothpaste tubes are recyclable, those materials recovery facilities must consider any tubes a contaminant.

"That toothpaste tube, while the plastic might be recyclable, because of the shape, it's not going to make it through our systems," a representative from the National Waste & Recycling Association told FTC. "It will be looked at as contaminant, and it'll be removed by the workers on the line because they don't have a lot of time, they're pulling out contaminants, and there's a conveyor belt going by superfast.

"There's no opportunity until all toothpaste tubes go to that format," the NWRA executive said. "I don't know of a facility that accepts tubes."

FTC is currently conducting a once-in-a-decade rewrite of the Green Guides, where it faces pressure from state officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make the guides stricter.

EPA, for example, wants materials to have strong end markets to make recyclability claims. Staff from Tong's and Bonta's offices both testified at that May 23 FTC hearing.

Truth in Advertising said FTC and the attorneys general should use the Colgate complaint to send a message against overly broad recyclability claims based mostly on technical recyclability.

"There can be no doubt that if the FTC and/or AGs take action on our complaint, it will send a clear and broad message that this type of deceptive marketing will no longer be tolerated," the group said. "Colgate-Palmolive is not the only company that embraces a theoretical or technical definition of recyclable that ignores the tenets of the FTC Green Guides and consumer perception data in order to take advantage of consumer demand for eco-friendly products and packaging."