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How to recycle an electric toothbrush and its parts.
Electric toothbrush recycling
As easy as ABC
ASK
Could you mend your toothbrush? Or if it’s working, maybe you could donate it to a charity. See our page on donating electricals.
BAG IT
Find a bag to store all your unwanted electricals until your next visit to your recycling centre, electrical retailer – or until collection day if you have one. Don’t forget to take batteries out and recycle them separately if you can.
CHECK
Find your nearest recycling point by entering your postcode in our recycling locator. And you’re smiling.
Recycling locator
Where can you recycle electric toothbrushes?
Some councils collect electricals for recycling – either with your regular waste collection or by special arrangement. Contact the council or check their website.
Your local recycling centre
All household waste and recycling centres have bins for electricals and batteries. Some also have an area for items that can be refurbished to be passed on.
Recycling banks
Some supermarkets, car parks and designated roadside areas have electrical recycling bins. Almost all supermarkets have battery bins.
In store
Thousands of shops across the UK will now take your old electric toothbrush for recycling if you’re buying a new one from them. Some take back all your old electricals for recycling even if you’re not buying something new. #zerowaste
Near you
Find your nearest electrical recycling collection or drop-off point by popping your postcode into our handy locator.
Recycling locator
DID YOU KNOW?
34 million
That’s how many adults in the UK use an electric toothbrush – according to research in 2020 by the Oral Health Foundation and Oral-B.
Humans!
Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled – that includes tootbrushes.
Purrfect.
Recycling locator
Electric toothbrush recycling – frequently asked questions
Why recycle an old electric toothbrush?
Two reasons – to save resources and prevent fires. Not only do electric toothbrushes contain valuable materials which can be recovered and reused, but they run on batteries which can cause fires in the waste stream if not managed properly. Like anything with a plug, battery or cable, when you recycle your electric toothbrush correctly, specialist recycling plants will break down your old device and recover the materials it is made of. Recycling materials in this way reduces the need to mine for more raw materials and manufacture more plastics. It’s better for the environment than sending your old toothbrush to landfill, or leaving it to gather dust in the bathroom drawer.
An electric toothbrush may be small but more than 30 million adults use one in the UK – so disposing of them properly at the end of their useful life is a big deal. Here’s an article on how to recycle lithium-ion batteries. And here’s an article about different sorts of batteries you can find in electric toothbrushes
Should I throw my electric toothbrush in the rubbish bin?
Never bin old electricals. It is important to dispose of an electric toothbrush properly for two reasons. First, electric toothbrushes are powered by batteries that can cause fires in the waste stream if crushed or damaged. In fact, damaged batteries cause hundreds of fires every year in the UK. The second reason to dispose of old electric toothbrushes properly is so that valuable metals and plastic materials they contain can be recovered and reused.
What does the wheelie-bin symbol on my toothbrush mean?
The crossed-out wheelie-bin symbol on electrical products means you should not put the item in with your general rubbish. Read more about how waste electrical and electronic equipment is managed.
Can electric toothbrushes be repaired?
In principle, electric toothbrushes can be repaired. A fuse or power lead might be replaceable, for example. If you want to have a go at mending an electric toothbrush yourself check out our page on repairing electricals or visit the Restart directoryto find repair shops by postcode.
Can I recycle the toothbrush head?
The non-electrical bits of a toothbrush, and manual toothbrushes for that matter, can contain several materials from wood to metals to polymers. So they are not straightforward to recycle. Recycling and packaging specialists TerraCycle have developed schemes with large oral hygiene brands to collect and recycle non-electrical toothbrush parts – including electric toothbrush heads, electric flosser nozzles, interdental brush and dental floss containers. Here’s an article about how to recycle all the replaceable plastic parts.
Other companies such as LiveCoco and Brushd take back toothbrush heads for recycling. Bamboo or other wooden handles may be recycled in some areas. You could also add them to woody garden waste (as long as you detach the nylon bristles).
Find your nearest recycling point
Put in your postcode to find recycling and reuse centres near you