How to save the world one toilet roll at a time

• If every home recycled one more of the most binned packaging items, the energy saved could power over 570,000 UK homes for a year
• While 89% of population regularly recycle, latest survey shows confidence in what can be recycled has fallen – and 2.3 billion recyclable items are missed
• More Local Authorities begin collecting new recyclable toothpaste tubes 

Environmental action NGO WRAP has calculated the huge energy savings possible if every home in the UK recycled just one more of the eight most missed packaging items each week. Published as part of Recycle Week, the data shows that across the eight items the potential energy saved could be enough to power over 570,000 homes. These include aluminium foil, shampoo bottles, toothpaste tubes, trigger sprays, aerosols, yoghurt pots, aftershave and perfume bottles, and toilet roll tubes. 

WRAP estimates that 79% of households bin one or more of these recyclable items each week, and that upward of 2.3 billion are lost to landfill and incineration that could be recycled and dramatically cut energy use. Had one extra item been recycled by every home each week, the following savings would be possible per item: 

1. If every UK home recycled 25g of tin foil per week – enough for the Sunday roast – it could power more than 190,000 homes.
2. One extra shampoo/conditioner bottle recycled each week by every home could power more than 230,000 households for a year – almost enough to power the entire City of Edinburgh.
3. If all 252,000 toothpaste tubes put on the market each year were recycled it could power over 140,000 homes or charge 5 million electric vehicles.
4. One extra trigger spray bottle recycled each week by every home could save enough energy to provide electricity for every household in Birmingham for a year.
5. One extra aerosol recycled each week by every home could power over a thousand flights from London to New York.
6. One extra yoghurt pot recycled each week by every home could power more than 50,000 households for a year.
7. If every home in the UK recycled just two aftershave/perfume bottles a year, we could power over 1,500 households for a year.
8. One extra toilet roll tube recycled each week by every home could power over 26,000 households for a year.

The estimates come as WRAP publishes its twenty-first annual Recycling Tracker – the largest and longest running survey of the UK’s recycling attitudes, knowledge and behaviour – and warns that confidence on what can be recycled is falling and impacting on the volume of material recycled. Boosting confidence in recycling is crucial says WRAP – especially with the average UK household generating around one tonne of waste every year.

Adam Herriott, Recycling Specialist WRAP said, “Recycling remains one of the UK’s most widely practiced environmental actions, but with record numbers of items now recyclable people can do even more. Every individual, every household can make a difference. We believe that clear information empowers people to recycle with confidence, and when they do, the impact is huge. That’s why keeping it visible through campaigns like Recycle Week really matters. The more we show it’s worth doing, the more people will get it right.”

The annual Recycle Week has helped unite councils across the UK in delivering a consistent message of the value of recycling, with the announcement this week that one of the most difficult packaging items used by every person in the UK has had a radical overhaul – the toothpaste tube. 

Colgate and Haleon - the makers of Sensodyne, Corsodyl and Aquafresh – have led industry in partnership with WRAP to make ALL toothpaste tubes from the same material as milk bottles. Using high-density polyethylene and removing the aluminium inner means every one of the 252 million tubes sold in the UK are now all recyclable. 

The move is to support Simpler Recycling under which English local authorities will have to collect toothpaste tubes (among other core items) by the end of March 2026. The number of local authorities collecting toothpaste tubes at kerbside has jumped during Recycle Week to 61 (check the Recycle Now Locator for details), with Boots stores across the UK collecting tubes in store. 

Catherine David, WRAP CEO, said “This is another game-changing moment for recycling. In partnership with Colgate and Haleon, we’ve taken one of the most infuriating packaging format and given it a sustainable makeover. We're on a mission to ensure all items that can be recycled are recycled, I’m delighted that now no toothpaste tube need become a landfilling!"

Celebrities Asim Chaudhry (Minty the toothpaste tube), Warwick Davis (Trigger the spray bottle), Josie Gibson (Ally the aluminium foil), and Big John (Rolly the toilet roll tube) are voicing the characters of four of the eight most wasted packaging items for a special social media and digital advertising campaign during Recycle Week.