Innovating recyclable TPU toothbrush heads with Desmopan®

Fully recycling toothbrushes is very difficult – and for conventional toothbrushes with polypropylene handles and nylon bristles, it’s not possible at all. These toothbrushes may take 500 years to degrade or decompose – and each year, billions of them are thrown away around the world, piling up in landfills and polluting our oceans.

FRESH 32, a producer of oral care products and oral hygiene accessories based in Slovenia, had a better idea: developing a long-lasting toothbrush to help consumers cut down on waste from single-use plastic toothbrushes. 

FRESH 32’s toothbrush manufacturers designed a brush consisting of a sleek, ergonomic metal handle with a replaceable brush head made from thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs). The metal handle can be used indefinitely, but the toothbrush head itself must be replaced regularly (approximately every three months) to ensure good oral hygiene and effective cleaning. FRESH 32 went in search of a raw material for the toothbrush components that would provide the ideal combination of performance and sustainability.  

With its focus on sustainability, FRESH 32 was determined to make its replaceable toothbrush heads from recyclable plastic, while also minimizing the overall weight of plastic used in the product.

At the same time, there could be no compromises on performance. The toothbrush head, including the bristles, needed to be abrasion resistant, microbe resistant, hydrolysis resistant, and wear resistant with the right hardness – all of which are critical to ensuring oral hygiene and health.  

With support from Covestro, FRESH 32 designed its 3D Bristle Dynamics™ manual toothbrush heads using TPUs from the Desmopan® GMP series, particularly Desmopan® 9385A GMP (soft brush) and Desmopan® 9392A GMP (middle hard). 

Produced using injection molding, the heads are 100% recyclable, weigh only 2 grams, and offer excellent cleaning properties with no deformation of the brush fibers – for a long-lasting, lightweight toothbrush. The toothbrush material’s hardness properties are perfect for this application, and in combination with the metal handle, the product ensures consumers can achieve the right pressure during teeth cleaning. The Desmopan® GMP series also fulfills Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.