Huggies outer plastic packaging now recyclable for US consumers

Huggies, the well-known baby care brand, has joined forces with recycling specialist TerraCycle to introduce a free recycling initiative in the United States. The programme enables individuals, schools, and community groups to recycle the outer plastic packaging from a range of personal care products.

Part of a broader commitment by Huggies to develop fully circular packaging by 2025, the initiative extends beyond its own products to include packaging from other Kimberly-Clark brands. These include Pull-Ups, Goodnites, U by Kotex, Depend, Poise, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva.

The partnership aims to address the challenge of packaging waste, with an estimated 80 million tonnes generated annually in the U.S.—less than half of which is currently recycled. Baby and personal hygiene products account for a notable portion of this waste, and the programme is designed to divert more of this material from landfills and incineration.

Participants in the Huggies Free Recycling Program can sign up via TerraCycle’s website, download a pre-paid shipping label, and send their used packaging for processing. Once received, the material is cleaned, shredded, and transformed into raw materials suitable for manufacturing new products.

Andrea Zahumensky, Kimberly-Clark’s North American Baby & Childcare President, said: Huggies puts the consumer at the heart of all we do. We set out to make our consumers lives better while making the smallest environmental impact possible. Our partnership with TerraCycle supports that ambition and minimizes our plastics footprint.

TerraCycle operates over 550 free recycling schemes globally, in partnership with more than 300 organisations. The company reports having recycled more than 8.5 billion items to date.