Colgate is the first toothpaste brand to launch a recyclable tube, but customers will have to pay through the teeth for it.

The Smile for Good toothpaste – which comes in two varieties: whitening and protection – is double the price of the brand's similar products, with a suggested retail price of £4.99.

However Colgate-Palmolive is hoping that, despite the hike in price, the new technology will "transform one of the most widely used forms of plastic packaging".

The Smile for Good tube is made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), which is the same plastic used to make milk bottles.

The company’s design team managed to combine different types of laminate to make the tube squeezable, while meeting recycling standards

Colgate-Palmolive said it will share its technology with competitors to help make recyclable tubes an industry standard

Smile for Good is part of the company's plan to ensure all its packaging is 100 per cent recyclable by 2025.

"Colgate wants to make tubes a part of the circular economy by keeping this plastic productive and eliminating waste," said Colgate-Palmolive CEO Noel Wallance. "If we can standardise recyclable tubes among all companies, we all win.

"We want all toothpaste tubes – and eventually all kinds of tubes – to meet the same third-party recycling standards that we've achieved. We can align on these common standards for tubes and still compete with what's inside them."

The contents of Smile for Good is also an industry first, as it’s the first toothpaste to be certified by the Vegan Society. Each ingredient is listed on the front of the pack.

Smile for Good will launch in UK stores Sainsbury's, Boots, Superdrug, Wilko, Waitrose, Ocado, and on Amazon this month, January 2020. It is then expected to be rolled out in UK supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons stores next month, February 2020.

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