Experts at UK-based In2tec, a specialist in sustainable technology, have said cheap toothbrushes and consumers upgrading to new high-end models with superficial enhancements, are adding to landfill unnecessarily.
In 2022, an estimated 34m people in the UK used electric toothbrushes with 12m people having switched in the five years between 2015 and 2020. While it is hard to get reliable data on how many are thrown away, the number is undoubtedly significant. In 2024, Expert Reviews analysed data that revealed that the UK throws away 2,266 tonnes of toothbrushes and 212m electric toothbrush heads and manual brushes each year.
Throwaway electronics have a devastating ecological impact, trigger serious health problems among waste pickers in developing countries, and use up staggering amounts of vital and increasingly scarce materials such as rare earth elements, aluminium, copper, and steel.
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