GSK Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), has launched 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 Green Clean toothbrush, which builds new sustainable handle technology onto its previous innovations with sustainable bristles and packaging.

The Dr. BEST Green Clean 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 (already used in GSKCH's Aqua fresh and Dr. BEST bamboo brushes). The product's 100% plastic-free 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.

GSKCH has formed a partnership with Climate Partner, Europe's leading solution provider for corporate climate action, to analyse and minimize 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 community-based Climate Partner 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.

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.

Gareth Rudduck, Oral Care Sustainability Lead, GSK Consumer Healthcare said: "We're proud to have led the growth of the oral care category globally, applying our trusted science to build awareness of preventable oral care conditions and drive better oral care habits. We're now collaborating with retailers and dental healthcare professionals to drive the growth of more sustainable options in oral care products across the world. Whilst this product achieves carbon neutral status by offsetting, we are working to develop future solutions that do not require offsetting. It's just one part of our ongoing sustainability journey, in which we're working to address the environmental and societal barriers to everyday health."