{"id":145,"date":"2023-04-28T20:31:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T00:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/?p=145"},"modified":"2023-11-16T13:42:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T18:42:42","slug":"the-million-dollar-toothpaste-tube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/28\/the-million-dollar-toothpaste-tube\/","title":{"rendered":"The Million-Dollar Toothpaste Tube"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Season 2 \u2022\u00a0Episode 10<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re overrun with plastic. It\u2019s in our oceans, our water, our food. Something has to be done\u2014preferably by corporations, which churn out millions of tons of plastic every year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enter: the toothpaste tube. It might seem like a minor player in the plastic problem, but we throw&nbsp;<em>20 billion&nbsp;<\/em>toothpaste tubes into the landfill every year. Recycling plants can\u2019t take them, because they\u2019re made of plastic and metal foil bonded together. They&nbsp;<em>all&nbsp;<\/em>end up in the landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Colgate, the #1 toothpaste brand, decided to tackle the problem. It spent five years and millions of dollars to design a tube made of the same plastic milk jugs are made of\u2014the easiest-to-recycle plastic in the world\u2014with no metal foil. The new tube is indistinguishable from existing tubes\u2014except the whole thing can go into the recycle bin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then\u2014Colgate gave away the patent. Today, 90% of the world\u2019s toothpaste makers are switching to recyclable toothpaste tubes. This is the uplifting, surprising, and slightly hilarious story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode transcript<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><sub>Intro<\/sub><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 65 years, we\u2019ve pretty much mastered the art of making plastic. What we&nbsp;<em>haven\u2019t&nbsp;<\/em>yet figured out\u2014is what to do with plastic when we\u2019re done with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GEYER: It lasts a really long time! It doesn\u2019t biodegrade. So it just sits there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of all the forms of plastic being dumped into our oceans and our landfills, you might not think that&nbsp;<em>toothpaste tubes&nbsp;<\/em>are much to worry about. But you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: [00:03:42]&nbsp;So there are roughly 20 billion, with a B, toothpaste tubes produced every year. \/ most of them, or if not all of them, wound up in landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because you can\u2019t recycle toothpaste tubes. Or at least you couldn\u2019t\u2014until Colgate spent five years and millions of dollars coming up with a recyclable tube\u2014and then did something highly irregular with the patent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m David Pogue, and this is \u201cUnsung Science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><sub>First Ad<\/sub><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Season 2, Episode 10: The Multimillion-Dollar Toothpaste Tube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can you imagine? Until the late 1950s, there was no such thing as plastic. My parents lived in a world before plastic. Maybe yours, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NARR: \u201cThe ingenious alchemy of coal and oil provides the material; ingenious machinery presses and stamps and molds the material into a wide variety of products!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plastic was cheap, sanitary, strong, light\u2014and so durable, it could last forever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that, actually, is the problem. We manufacture 460 million tons of plastic a year, and we recycle only around 9% of it. The rest goes either into the landfill\u2014or someplace even worse: The ocean. Every year, 14 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROLAND: 10:07:11 Plastic in the ocean has a tendency to break down into ever smaller pieces. And these tiny pieces then get taken up even lower down in the food chain. So we know that\u2013 it ends up on our dinner plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roland Geyer is a professor of environmental science at UC Santa Barbara who studies how much plastic we throw away.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DP: There\u2019s plastic in my food?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROLAND: There is plastic in your food. There is plastic in your sea salt. And there is plastic coming out of your tap.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But even within the tiny fraction of plastic that we put into the recycle bin, 40% of it is contaminated\u2014by food, or paper labels, or other materials. And therefore worthless. Recycling plants pull out that contaminated stuff and just throw it away. Send it to the landfill.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We used to ship the unsaleable plastic to China, where desperately poor people would paw through it and try to find usable bits. But in 2018, the Chinese government decided it no longer wanted to be the world\u2019s dumping ground, and the country stopped importing all our dirty plastic. Today, most of our dirty plastic goes into the landfill or the ocean.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, at this point, you\u2019re probably feeling pretty depressed. But hold on now. It\u2019s about to get worse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even pure, clean plastic that you put into the recycling bin may get pulled out<em>&nbsp;<\/em>and thrown into the landfill! It\u2019s true! Just because it has that little chasing-arrows triangle logo on it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s actually recyclable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Game-show music<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to\u2026\u201cCan you recycle that?\u201d The exciting game show where you realize how little you know about what gets recycled!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s begin with Round 1, for 100 points: #1 plastic. You look at the little chasing-arrows triangle logo on the package, and it says #1. #1 plastic. That\u2019s what soda bottles and food jars are made of. Can you recycle that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ding ding ding ding ding!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">YES YOU CAN!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Applause, cheers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s a solid market for clean #1 plastic. In other words, there are companies willing to&nbsp;<em>buy&nbsp;<\/em>#1 plastic, to make into new things.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How about #2 plastic? That\u2019s milk jugs and detergent bottles?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ding ding ding ding ding!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">YES YOU CAN! #1 and #2 are the good stuff. An impressive&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling\/plastics-material-specific-data\">30% of it<\/a>&nbsp;gets recycled.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Applause, cheers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, relatively impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what if it\u2019s BLACK plastic, like takeout bowls?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>BZZZZZT! Crowd \u201cawwwws\u201d disappointedly<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, I\u2019m sorry! Black plastic confuses the optical sorting equipment at most recycling plants\u2014it all goes to landfill. Complain to your restaurants!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What about plastics #3, 4, 5, 6, and 7?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>BZZZZZT! Crowd \u201cawwwws\u201d disappointedly<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nooooo! Some cities&nbsp;<em>collect&nbsp;<\/em>plastic 3 through 7, but virtually none of it actually gets recycled. It\u2019s burned or landfilled. When a company puts that little Recycle Me logo on their #3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 plastics, it\u2019s just a cynical ploy to make us think they\u2019re good citizens. That\u2019s called greenwashing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You also can\u2019t put plastic bags or plastic wrap into your recycling bin. It gums up the equipment at the plant! Fortunately, most big grocery stores will recycle plastic film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Game-show music ends.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So you\u2019re starting to grasp the scope of this problem. And to solve it, we have to do battle with lobbyists for the oil and plastic industries, who desperately do&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;want us to start using less plastic.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this much is for sure: We, the people, cannot solve the problem through individual action. Doing better at recycling won\u2019t solve the problem. We need corporations to get involved. Like the ones that make\u2026toothpaste tubes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: My name is Greg Corra. I\u2019m Worldwide Director of Global Packaging and Sustainability for Colgate-Palmolive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I\u2019m Stephan Habif and I\u2019m the chief technology officer here at Colgate-Palmolive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, you might chuckle at the notion of sitting down with two toothpaste executives, at the idea that they might do something about the plastic crisis. But that\u2019s only because you don\u2019t appreciate the scale of the toothpaste-tube problem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: So there are roughly 20 billion, with a B, toothpaste tubes produced every year. Most of them, or if not all of them, wound up in landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">20 billion is pretty bad, but it could get a lot worse. Because\u2014and I hope you\u2019re sitting down, thinking happy thoughts\u2014it turns out that about 45% of the world\u2019s population does not use toothpaste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, 70% of the world does not use toilet paper. But that\u2019s a different conversation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The point is,\u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: There is still way too many people in too many countries that either don\u2019t have any oral hygiene or don\u2019t brush their teeth with a fluoride toothpaste or don\u2019t brush often enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s pointing out that all that un-brushed humanity could be a business opportunity for Colgate. These people could one day buy toothpaste! Or, to put it more kindly,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: We have been addressing a major health crisis that is right under our nose. WHO has estimated that 45% of the world population is affected by oral disease.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WHO is the World Health Organization.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: So what we\u2019ve been trying to do, we\u2019ve been trying to make sure that everyone brushes twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and that would improve their health. Because, by the way, oral health has been linked to systemic health issues like diabetes, like cardiovascular disease, etc. But in doing that, \/ we will increase the amount of toothpaste tubes that are being produced. So we also are concerned, obviously, about our planet and sustainability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So yes\u2014Colgate does intend to spread its toothpaste to the vast unbrushed masses\u2014but Colgate does realize that, as Spider-Man\u2019s Uncle Ben put it,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ben: With great power comes great responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Okay. So somewhere along the line, somebody internally at the company said, \u201cGuys, we\u2019ve got to do something about these billions of toothpaste tubes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: &nbsp;Yep. We needed to deliver a recyclable toothpaste package, right? And we called it a package, because we didn\u2019t know at that time whether it would be a tube or not.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So this goal was set before we knew there was even a pathway to a solution, and before we knew how much scale it could be. So that was the impetus with it starting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The year was 2014.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg And we looked very broadly and really obsessed with the problem of why are toothpaste tubes not recyclable? Why is toothpaste even in the tube? What needed to be true to make them recyclable? It began five years of R&amp;D work that went in a number of different directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I mean, really? What could possibly take five years?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, the big problem is that every one of those 20 billion tubes a year is made of more than plastic. Every single one has an aluminum&nbsp;<em>lining.&nbsp;<\/em>So you can\u2019t recycle it; there\u2019s no machine on earth that can separate out the plastic from the metal foil. They\u2019re bonded together forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: And then because of that, they weren\u2019t accepted by recyclers at scale anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: So if I were to take an empty toothpaste tube, cut it in half, I would see that the inside is actually reflective shiny metal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: For today\u2019s conventional tubes, yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OK, so\u2026why not just get rid of the metal lining? Then boom\u2014people can toss the plastic tube into the recycling bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, the metal lining is there for the same reason potato-chip and snack bags have metal linings: To lock in freshness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: What that metal layer is doing for you, it\u2019s a barrier\u2014oxygen, flavor, many things. And you get the plastic for performance, the metal for barrier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I kind of giggle every time he uses the word \u201cperformance\u201d when we\u2019re talking about\u2026 a tube of toothpaste. But he means all the things we want from a toothpaste tube:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: By performing, we need it to protect, be hygienic, and all of those things, from squeezability to heat resistance and other things.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And above all\u2014preserve the flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Colgate is very focused on the performance of flavors. For many of our brands, people have been brushing their teeth with it their entire life. So the flavor profile couldn\u2019t change. I would say of that five-year R&amp;D process, it could have been about a year shorter had we not paid such attention to the flavor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, remember: Pretty much the only kinds of plastic we universally recycle in this country are #1 and #2. So it seemed pretty clear to Colgate that the new tube would have to be made of #1 or #2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The technical name for #1 plastic is PETE, or Polyethylene terephthalate. Yeah, there\u2019s a P-H T-H in there. Terephthalate. The soda-bottle plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the full name of #2 plastic, the milk-jug plastic, is high-density polyethylene, fondly known as HDPE.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: And when we look at recycling, HDPE is one of the two main recycling streams that are in practice and at scale globally. When we embarked on this, our target was a scaled, viable recycling stream.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: This idea about let\u2019s, \u201clet\u2019s make it mostly of HDPE,\u201d how long through the process did that idea come up with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Not right off the bat. So we knew what we were targeting, but we didn\u2019t yet know how to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Especially because #2 plastic alone couldn\u2019t maintain the flavor and freshness of the toothpaste. The tubes still needed a lining\u2014it just couldn\u2019t be metal anymore. So\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: So we needed to re-engineer the entire tube to be mostly out of a single material, to replace the flavor barrier with a new material that\u2019s compatible with HDPE. So we took the aluminum foil out, we brought in a material called EVOH, which is a plastic compatible barrier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EVOH stands for Ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer. EVOH. You\u2019d think you\u2019d say it \u201cEEE-vo,\u201d although I guess that would sound too much like EVOO\u2014you know, extra-virgin olive oil. You wouldn\u2019t want to make your salad dressing with EVOH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, here\u2019s what Wikipedia says about EVOH: It\u2019s a \u201cplastic resin commonly used as an oxygen barrier in food packaging. It is better than other plastics at keeping air out and flavors in, is highly transparent, weather resistant, oil and solvent resistant, flexible, moldable, recyclable, and printable. Its drawback is that it is difficult to make and therefore more expensive than other food packaging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So: Now they had a prototype that was mostly #2 plastic, with a thin layer of EVOH plastic to lock in freshness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: It\u2019s mostly HDPE. It\u2019s about 95% high-density polyethylene, which is the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Okay. And it doesn\u2019t matter for recycling standpoint that there are different kinds of plastic in there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Yes. So we engaged with an organization called the Association of Plastics Recyclers, which is a recycling trade group. And early on, we said, \u201cHere\u2019s our idea. We\u2019re developing a tube that will recycle with HDPE bottles. How can we do it in a way that this is valuable material for you?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They have a set of criteria that a package needs to meet to be compatible with that stream. And they have acceptable levels of other materials in there, and the EVOH barrier is part of that. And we were able to demonstrate through testing, through data,&nbsp; that this tube is compatible with the HDPE bottle stream, even going so far as\u2026 we took our tubes and made fabric conditioner jugs out of them, and they passed all the performance requirement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: So what happens to that thin layer of plastic that isn\u2019t the HDPE stuff? Does it just get melted down?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Yeah. So the small part of EVOH goes with the HDPE and is compatible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But even with the flavor issue under control, an all-plastic tube would never get off the ground without a fix for the stiffness problem. HDPE is milk-jug plastic. It\u2019s way too stiff! You don\u2019t&nbsp;<em>squeeze&nbsp;<\/em>your milk out of a milk jug; you pour it. But toothpaste doesn\u2019t pour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: We\u2019re redesigning it to be high-density polyethylene,&nbsp; which is a rigid material. And we need to make a soft squeezable tube out of it. So the breakthrough was to use a variety of different layers and grades of high density polyethylene that when used together, gave you the strength you needed with the squeezability in a nice flat sheet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was time to make a prototype. The Prototype 1 tube of 2014. It was squeezable, all right. Unfortunately, the texture came out wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: So there\u2019s an effect called orange peel, right? So if you think of an orange peel, it\u2019s very stippled on the surface, which is great for a fruit. But for a package you need to print on, makes it much more difficult to produce at scale. So this was, in version one, a big problem we had. So we needed to reformulate the grade of material and the filmmaking process to improve that smoothness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six months later, the team was back with Prototype #2. It was squeezable. It was printable. The only problem\u2026was a side effect that the executives of Colgate-Palmolive, Incorporated could not bear to contemplate:&nbsp;<em>[heavy reverb:]&nbsp;<\/em>Flavor scalping.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Loud, dissonant, horror-movie chord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meaning, flavor was still leaking out through \u200bthe walls of the tube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enter: Dr. Jun Wang, Colgate\u2019s lead materials scientist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: You have to meet Dr. Jun Wang. He was absolutely convinced that he would get there. It is a scientist that has such a resilience and passion to solve this problem that for him, there was no question that he was going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wang\u2019s solution was to move the EVOH layer inward. The tube walls are made up of very thin layers of plastic, and the EVOH barrier was in the middle of them, like the cheese in a grilled-cheese sandwich. He thought that if they moved the EVOH closer to the toothpaste, it might solve the problem of flavor scalping\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(repeat the horror-movie chord)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014and he was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of 2015, Colgate had itself a third prototype. Without any flavor scal\u2014 you know. Flavor leakage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, at last, they were done, right? Ready to ship this puppy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not quite. The plastic of a toothpaste tube starts out as a big flat sheet. They print on it while it\u2019s still a sheet, which they&nbsp;<em>then&nbsp;<\/em>chop up and roll up into tubes. The tubes get filled with toothpaste, sealed, and shipped out to your waiting mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But once they\u2019d moved the EVOH layer, the layers of the sheet were no longer symmetrical\u2014the grilled-cheese cheese had moved too close to one side of the sandwich\u2014and the sheets no longer lay flat. Each layer of the plastic reacted differently to tension. And the result was a sheet that wanted to roll up by itself, like a movie poster that\u2019s been rolled up in its tube too long. When they rolled that up into a tube, it wasn\u2019t a perfect cylinder at the opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: By moving it inward, you now have an asymmetrical material.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Oh my god. This is way more complicated than you would think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: And we like round tubes because they look nice, but they\u2019re also important for scale, right? We make very, very high speed, millions of tubes a day. So you need a consistent round tube to work on high-speed equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So\u2014and this is the heart of Dr. Wang\u2019s patent. He engineered a structure where the internal forces in this laminate\u2014and you could think of it, you know, like plywood or like a sandwich of material\u2014he was able to engineer the, the net result of all these materials so that it was dimensionally stable. The forces were counteracting and it was nice and flat, and it made a very nice, round tube.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, Wang counteracted the unevenness of the different layers\u2019 tensile properties by adding and subtracting various&nbsp;<em>other&nbsp;<\/em>layers of different thicknesses until the whole thing lay flat. In the end, we\u2019re talking about a&nbsp;<em>lot&nbsp;<\/em>of layers. A single wall of the finished tube is composed of&nbsp;<em>nine layers&nbsp;<\/em>of plastic, some of them ridiculously thin\u2014like 15 microns thick. That\u2019s about one-seventh the thickness of a sheet of paper!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Colgate still had some bugs to work out, but the team had conquered the really showstopping challenges.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: I really appreciate what you\u2019ve done here. And I hate to poke holes in it, but guess what? When I throw that thing in the recycling bin, it\u2019s still got caked-on leftover toothpaste, contaminating the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: But it\u2019s\u2014I mean, this is very easy, because that toothpaste actually is a water-based product that kind of dissolves in the washing at the recycling facility. There is nothing left. So it\u2019s really not a problem for the recycling facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: And we also know that people tend to use the vast majority of the toothpaste in the tube.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: And they are very creative. People using our product are very creative in getting the last bit of toothpaste out of the toothpaste tube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so\u2026after five years and eight generations of prototypes, Colgate finally had itself a toothpaste tube that looked and worked exactly like the ones we\u2019re used to. The only sign that there\u2019s a difference is a little paper flag right at the cap that says \u201cRecycle me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019d solved the materials-science problems. Now they had to face a bigger challenge: the human one. We\u2019ll cover those, after the ad break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><sub>Second Ads<\/sub><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the break, Colgate\u2019s director of packaging, Greg Corra, was telling us why it took five years and millions of dollars to re-engineer the toothpaste tube to make it recyclable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: The version that we brought to market first in 2019 was our eighth iteration of it. And each one\u2014I\u2019ve got a little slide when we share the technology with, with others that shows, one, two, three, four, five and the challenges we had and what we needed to do to overcome that. It was stiffness. It was how well the surface was, how well it protected against flavor. So as with many R&amp;D endeavors, it took iteration. It took creativity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: So was there a big pizza party, beer bash when they finally got it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: More than one pizza party! But we knew it\u2019s the start of the journey. So internally, we said, \u201cwe got step one. We\u2019re now in the second phase of this project, which is external engagement, driving the industry to move to recyclability.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What he\u2019s trying to say is that the world wasn\u2019t&nbsp;<em>ready&nbsp;<\/em>for recyclable tubes. Hadn\u2019t heard of them. Was trained not to expect them. Was inclined to keep tossing them into the trash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Most people recycle in the kitchen, not in the bathroom. So we\u2019re hoping that communication on the tube can trigger them to take it from the bathroom and put it in either their bin or wherever they recycle number two bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Is there, will there, has there been any advertising around these new tubes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: [00:57:27]&nbsp;Yes. We\u2019ve done something called Share the Answers in Australia which highlights what to do with the tube. If you look it up, it\u2019s a really cute video of two tubes talking to each other, explaining about the aluminum layer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ad: Knock-knock! Who\u2019s there? Tank. Tank who? Tank you for recycling me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Gotcha. But there hasn\u2019t been a big Super Bowl commercial announcing that you\u2019ve licked this tube problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: We did not make a Super Bowl commercial yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you ask me, training billions of people to change their behavior like this is a big challenge. But chief technology officer Stephan Habif points out that Colgate has been in the behavior-modification business for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: We have quite a bit of experience in our company to positively influence human behavior, to positive outcome. So one of them is brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste to get, you know, oral health.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jingle: \u201cBrush your teeth with Colgate! Cleans your breath\u2014while it cleans your teeth!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other one in the area of sustainability is, turn off the tap while you\u2019re brushing your teeth. You keep improving your communication, your model, until you get to this positive outcome, and in this case is people to recycle the tube, to put it in the recycling bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But retraining us, the people, is only half the battle. There are still thousands of workers in recycling plants who have&nbsp;<em>also&nbsp;<\/em>been trained to throw out toothpaste tubes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: As we engaged with these recycling sorters, you know, we were doing a lot of tests. We put radio transmitters on tubes to show it will go into the right place. In one of those cases, we\u2019re filming this tube go into the right place and there\u2019s a human on the end of the line, picked it off, because he\u2019s trained, \u201ctubes don\u2019t go in this line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp; So even though the automated equipment recognized this tube is of the right material in the right format, the training was there. So a large focus of the work we\u2019re doing now is engaging with recyclers and educating that our tubes are compatible with this stream, and that you can transition from pulling them off to accepting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: So you\u2019ve got to educate those workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Correct. And there are thousands of communities in the U.S. alone that set recycling guidance. So this is not a small scale challenge to work through. But we\u2019re partnering around the world with organizations in this space, with two working groups that include our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: Two working groups? Are you saying that there \u2014 there are tube&nbsp;<em>conferences<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: Oh, my God. Multiple! More than one! So there\u2019s one in North America, there\u2019s one in Europe. We meet multiple times a year. And this is a place somewhere like myself has a very good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Frankly, if nothing else comes of having written this podcast episode, just knowing that there is such a thing as tube conferences will have made it all worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think what Colgate has done is remarkable. It\u2019s obviously not something they did for PR value\u2014I mean, until \u201cUnsung Science\u201d came along, as far as I know, hardly anyone even&nbsp;<em>knows&nbsp;<\/em>they did it. It\u2019s something they did for the good of the planet, even though it costs&nbsp;<em>them&nbsp;<\/em>time and effort to bring about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But here\u2019s the thing. Colgate may be responsible for half of the 20 billion tubes we throw away each year\u2014but what about Crest, and Aquafresh, and Arm and Hammer, and Sensodyne?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If they don\u2019t&nbsp;<em>also&nbsp;<\/em>switch to recyclable tubes, then we\u2019re in a&nbsp;<em>really&nbsp;<\/em>awkward position. Not only are 10 billion tubes a year&nbsp;<em>still&nbsp;<\/em>going into the landfill and the ocean, but Colgate\u2019s own 10 billion will probably get tossed, too\u2014because we can\u2019t really expect recycling plant workers to&nbsp;<em>study&nbsp;<\/em>every tube that comes down the line and&nbsp;<em>figure out,&nbsp;<\/em>one tube at a time,<em>&nbsp;<\/em>if it\u2019s the recyclable kind or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No\u2014if this is going to work, they&nbsp;<em>all&nbsp;<\/em>have to be recyclable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s where this story takes a twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: A year and a half away from launch, I walked into a meeting and it was, it\u2019s called the North America Tube Council, which is tube manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love that there is a North American Tube Council. I would very much like to have a North American Tube Council T-shirt. Anyway\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: I did a presentation that outlined our plan, the target for an HDPE tube. I told them, \u201cyou\u2019re all invited to join us in this. We will not defend our patent. We\u2019re going to open it up.\u201d That audience took note and said, OK, \u201cColgate\u2019s going down that way, you know,\u201d and it happened the way we thought, that we\u2019d signal how important it was for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: We made this patent available to anyone in the industry who wants to use it. We wanted to make sure that ideally, if all the toothpaste tubes were recyclable, there would be much less barrier for the recycling community to accept these tubes because they don\u2019t even have to do any sorting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: You develop this thing and now you\u2019re giving it away. I mean, that\u2019s, that\u2019s a pretty good gesture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: It became clear that we had to drive an industry change, and that squirreling this away would be counterproductive to driving that change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In case you\u2019re wondering: The other American toothpaste giant, Crest, was&nbsp;<em>not&nbsp;<\/em>among the companies who availed themselves of Colgate\u2019s technology. They did, however, develop their&nbsp;<em>own&nbsp;<\/em>version of these tubes. Crest, too, is now making its tubes out of multi-layer #2 HDPE plastic. And Crest, too, has launched a huge education campaign for consumers and recycling plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All told, nine years after Colgate started down its recyclable-tube quest, we can report this astonishing statistic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephan: 90% of the major manufacturers of toothpaste have agreed to switch to recyclable toothpaste tubes, and therefore will be able to switch the whole industry. And it will be so much easier, because in the future when we get there, there won\u2019t be any question, is it recyclable or not?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: I mean, that is like the first decent, positive, undisputable, good piece of news in the plastic pollution world I\u2019ve heard in a long time. I mean, presumably ten years from now, you won\u2019t see toothpaste tubes in the landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: That is our hope and that\u2019s our goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love this story. I love that an industry decided to clean itself up. I love that&nbsp;<em>somebody&nbsp;<\/em>is doing something about the plastics problem. And by the way, this episode is decidedly NOT sponsored by big toothpaste. No money changed hands. Colgate didn\u2019t even approach me about doing this podcast\u2014I approached&nbsp;<em>them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I had one last niggling doubt. Niggling, but enormous. I\u2019d been deeply affected by a<em>&nbsp;really&nbsp;<\/em>discouraging report on the Greenpeace website. It argued that the entire&nbsp;<em>concept&nbsp;<\/em>of plastic recycling is a myth. Here, I\u2019ll read it to you:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe plastics and products industries have been promoting plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste since the early 1990s. Some 30 years later, the vast majority of U.S. plastic waste is still not recyclable. The U.S. plastic recycling rate was estimated to have declined to about 5\u20136% in 2021, down from a high of 9.5% in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recycling of plastic waste has largely failed and will always fail, because plastic waste is: (1) extremely difficult to collect, (2) virtually impossible to sort for recycling, (3) environmentally harmful to reprocess, (4) often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and (5) not economical to recycle.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paper, cardboard, metal, and glass do not have these problems, which is why they are recycled at much higher rates.\u201d End quote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I asked Greg Corra about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: We recycle so little of our plastic, I mean, somewhere between 5 and 8% is all we manage. So do you ever wake up in the middle of the night going, \u201cWhat are we doing? We can\u2019t even get people to recycle at all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: The stat you mentioned is considering all plastics, including lawn chairs and other things. When you get down to specific materials and formats, that number still is not as high as it needs to be, but it\u2019s much higher. It\u2019s in the thirties, it\u2019s in the forties, depending on country. And that\u2019s why we chose HDPE.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is it where it needs to be? Not at all, right?&nbsp; So that\u2019s why we engage with the recycling partnership in the U.S., the U.S. Plastics Pact, plastics pacts around the world, because that number needs to go up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, to be perfectly fair to Colgate and Crest, the Greenpeace article goes&nbsp;<em>on&nbsp;<\/em>to say that #1 and #2 plastic recycling is&nbsp;<em>not&nbsp;<\/em>a myth. That they are quote \u201cwidely accepted\u201d by US recycling plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I mean, someday, scientists hope that we won\u2019t need&nbsp;<em>any&nbsp;<\/em>kind of plastic for packaging\u2014or at least any kind of petroleum-derived plastic. There are all kinds of materials that come close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve been the host of 20 specials on \u201cNOVA,\u201d the PBS science series. And one time, I visited Boston University chemist Malika Jeffries-El.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She showed me a cup made entirely of plant-based plastic. It was clear, it was sturdy, it was compostable and recyclable\u2014it looked for all the world like any other plastic cup. So why isn\u2019t the world using that plant plastic instead of oil plastic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malika:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The biggest limitation \/ is their range for thermal stability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">David:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Their range for thermal stability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malika:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yeah. So in layperson\u2019s terms, you cannot use this for a hot drink.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">David:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Oh.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malika: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Perfectly good for your cool beer. Your soda on the rocks. It\u2019s got you covered. But you want to make a hot tea in there, you\u2019re going to be in trouble.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">David:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Well, what what would happen?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malika:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Well, we could put boiling water in here, and let\u2019s see what happens. Right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">David:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Oh, cool! Oh, did you see that? It kind of shrunk up. Oh, it just turned into a compact travel size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malika:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It\u2019s definitely got its niche. But you know, you\u2019ll be surprised on the dumb things that people people do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The point was, it\u2019s very hard to find a material that does everything plastic can do, as well as plastic can do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OK, back to Colgate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: So is there no other material in the world, anything more biodegradable that could be used for these tubes besides plastic?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: We absolutely looked at a range of materials, and we continue to look at range of materials.&nbsp;I would not say it\u2019s hopeless. We are focused on a number of avenues, which includes compostable packaging. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s right around the corner, but it is something.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So until we find that miracle material, recyclable plastic it is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we speak, three-quarters of Colgate\u2019s tubes in the U.S. are recyclable; the company intends to complete the transition to 100%, worldwide, by 2025. Which is, as we now know, an achievement in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pogue: You know, after this episode, people are going to hold that stupid toothpaste tube like it\u2019s a treasure from the deep. Like, so much work went into this!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg: This is my life.<em>&nbsp;(laughter)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">##<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><sub>Credits<\/sub><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ve just listened to another episode of \u201cUnsung Science\u201d with David Pogue. Don\u2019t forget that the entire library of shows, along with written transcripts, await at unsungscience.com.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My guests today were Stephan Habif and Greg Corra from Colgate, Roland Geyer from UC Santa Barbara, and Malika Jeffries-El from Boston University, whom I thank profusely. I\u2019m also grateful to WGBH for permission to use the clip from one of my \u201cNOVA\u201d interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This podcast is a joint venture of Simon &amp; Schuster and CBS News, and it\u2019s produced by PRX Productions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Simon &amp; Schuster, the Executive Producers are Richard Rhorer and Chris Lynch.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PRX production team is Jocelyn Gonzales, Morgan Flannery, Pedro Rafael Rosado and Morgan Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesi Nelson composed the Unsung Science theme music, our fact checker is Kristina Rebelo, and Olivia Noble fixed the transcripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more of my stuff, visit davidpogue.com or follow me on Twitter, @pogue. We\u2019d love it if you\u2019d like and subscribe to Unsung Science wherever you get your podcasts. And spread the word, will you?<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5730\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-145-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3\">https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/?powerpress_pinw=145-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"unsungscience-20230428.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re overrun with plastic. It\u2019s in our oceans, our water, our food. Something has to be done\u2014preferably by corporations, which churn out millions of tons of plastic every year. Enter: the toothpaste tube. It might seem like a minor player in the plastic problem, but we throw\u00a020 billion\u00a0toothpaste tubes into the landfill every year. Recycling plants can\u2019t take them, because they\u2019re made of plastic and metal foil bonded together. They\u00a0all\u00a0end up in the landfill.<span class=\"excerpt-more-link\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/28\/the-million-dollar-toothpaste-tube\/\">More <svg class=\"svg-icon\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M6.96954 10.2804L11.9999 15.3107L17.0302 10.2804L15.9695 9.21973L11.9999 13.1894L8.0302 9.21973L6.96954 10.2804Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"excerpt-audio-block\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/unsung.davidpogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unsungscience-20230428.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsungscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}