Applictions
Applictions Carbon-neutral toothbrush GSK Consumer Healthcare (Brentford, UK), the worldleading consumer healthcare business, whose brands include Sensodyne, parodontax, Voltaren, and Advil, is contributing to raising sustainability standards in the oral care industry with its first carbon neutral toothbrush. GSKCH, which is due to separate into a new company next year, has found an innovative way to leverage renewable raw materials for high-performance oral care products – helping reduce the use of fossil fuels for virgin plastic. The company is piloting this with its Dr.BEST GreenClean toothbrush, which builds new sustainable handle technology onto its previous innovations with sustainable bristles and packaging. The Dr.Best GreenClean toothbrush handle is made from renewable cellulose and ‘tall oil’ – a wood-based bioplastic that is derived from pine, spruce, and birch trees in sustainable forests, and is being applied in oral care for the first time by GSKCH. It is a by-product of paper production and would otherwise be disposed of. The bristles are made of 100 % renewable castor oil (presumably a biobased polyamide MT), as already used in GSKCH’s Aquafresh and Dr.Best bamboo brushes. The product’s 100 % plasticfree packaging includes GSKCH’s innovative cellulose window (which is also made with renewable cellulose. The packaging can be completely disposed of through a wide range of municipal recycling schemes (depending on local systems). GSKCH has formed a partnership with ClimatePartner (Munich, Germany), Europe’s leading solution provider for corporate climate action, to analyse and minimise the carbon impact of the product and its manufacturing – reducing the carbon footprint of the brush by over 50 % compared to the standard Dr.Best toothbrush. The remaining footprint is offset through a communitybased ClimatePartner project in Madagascar. With offsetting being a secondary measure to the avoidance and reduction of carbon impact, GSKCH scientists are exploring ways to achieve carbon neutrality without offsetting in future oral care launches. GSKCH’s Dr.Best is Germany’s favourite manual toothbrush brand. The company – which holds an ambition to become the world’s most sustainable toothbrush manufacturer – already has global plans to apply the technology across other toothbrushes in its portfolio – including in its market-leading Sensodyne brand. It is working hard to increase the development of sustainable options across its oral care portfolio in recognition of growing global consumer preference for more sustainable products. A recent Nielsen study showed that 73 % of consumers say they would “change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment.” [1] The launch of the carbon neutral toothbrush is another step in GSKCH’s ongoing sustainability journey in oral care, which began with the rollout of its first sustainably grown bamboo toothbrushes in September 2020 in Europe. This March it launched its first plastic-free toothbrush packaging, which included Sensodyne Pronamel and parodontax brushes in the US. Asia Pacific rollout of this commenced in Australia. The new carbon-neutral toothbrush is part of GSKCH’s overall mission to reduce the carbon it generates. The company has a two-pronged approach to carbon reduction. Firstly, it is reducing energy through more efficient manufacturing systems (including energy-efficient lights, heating systems, and motors; and the switching off of power when feasible). Secondly, it is investing in renewable energy for GSKCH sites – with a commitment for all to use 100 % renewable electricity by 2025. It is also working closely with suppliers to reduce the amount of carbon content in all of its materials and the overall amount of plastic used across the product portfolio. While it remains a part of GSK, GSKCH’s sustainability initiatives support GSK’s companywide commitment to achieve a netzero impact on climate and a positive impact on nature by 2030, announced by CEO Emma Walmsley in November 2020. AT [1] global-sustainable-shoppersreport-2018.pdf (nielsen.com) www.gsk.com 18 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/21] Vol. 16
Useful sample kit PositivePlastics is bridging the gap Materials Positive Plastics (Karjaa, Finland) recently launched its first sample kit, featuring plastic materials with a reduced environmental footprint: PCR, PIR, biobased, biocomposite and mass balanced plastics of various manufacturers. Positive Plastics, aims to convey a more accepting outlook on plastics to designers, engineers, and product managers. In October, they launched their first Positive Plastics Kit, an invaluable tool for materials understanding and communication between non-technical and technical team members. The founders, Efrat Friedland, Erik Moth-Müller, and Markus Paloheimo, experts, consultants, and educators in the materials and polymers field, created and curated a sample collection of various innovative, commercially available polymers. The kit holds Arkema, Biowert Industrie, Borealis, Lignin Industries, Mocom, Sappi, Sirmax, Stora Enso, Trinseo, UBQ, and UPM materials. The kit includes post-consumer recyclates (PCR), post-industrial recyclates (PIR), mass balanced grades, biobased grades, and biocomposites. All grades are suitable for injection molding to produce durable products, such as consumer electronics, home appliances, sports goods, automotive interiors, accessories, etc. Positive Plastics will continuously expand the kit as new responsible polymers reach the market. “Try to imagine your life without plastic” proposed Efrat, “not without plastic waste, but without products and services we have all grown to rely on in almost every aspect of our lives. It seems that we can’t get along without this material, but we must eliminate its waste and negative impact.” “Thinking positively about plastics,” adds Erik ”there are many new grades on the market that are composed of natural materials or recycled materials, or both….they can replace traditional, fossil-fuel based plastics in every industry and product imaginable. Sadly, very few designers and engineers are familiar with them. Our goal is to change that.” Besides presenting new materials, Positive Plastics offers a novel design of the plastic sample, no longer a flat, square, piece of plastic that reveals little about the material’s characteristics. “Our unique sample design portrays the material’s properties and its possible applications tangibly,” explains Markus. “Holding our sample, one can easily discover various surface structure options, different wall thicknesses, corners, hinges, fluidity indication, draft angle, shrinkage, warpage…so many features in one piece!” Positive Plastics will present a complimentary kit to one hundred brands and design agencies to encourage an informed choice of materials and sensible implementation. Kits will be available for purchase online. Positive Plastics is definitely a useful toolbox for discovering plastics with a positive impact. MT www.positiveplastics.eu bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/21] Vol. 16 19
