A DROP-OFF location to recycle oral-care waste has been set up at Devon Square Orthodontics in Newton Abbot.

The scheme is part of the Philips Dental Care Free Recycling Programme in partnership with TerraCycle.

For each item collected Devon Square Orthodontics raises funds for Devon Mind. Each item recycled awards points to the practice that can be redeemed as monetary donations to charity.

Recyclable items include old manual toothbrushes, electric toothbrush heads and covers, dental floss containers and other oral care items of any brand.

Sarah Mallett, Customer Care Administrator at Devon Square Orthodontics said: “We are very aware of our environmental footprint, which is why we are always on the lookout for new initiatives we can bring in that allow us to be more sustainable. TerraCycle’s free programmes are great, not only because they reduce the amount we send to landfill, but also because we can share the solution with the entire community.

“By sending these items to TerraCycle we are raising funds for Devon Mind, a mental health charity which campaigns and supports people across Devon. It’s a very worthy cause so we encourage everyone to visit the location and drop off their waste. The more we collect, the more we can raise for charity.”

These items are essential for maintaining high standards of oral hygiene, but they are often not recycled by councils due to their complex mix of materials.

The collected items the practice sends in to TerraCycle are recycled by shredding, cleaning, and turning into a pellet format which can then be used by manufacturers to create new generic plastic products, reducing the need to extract new resources from the planet.