The Denman Innovation team has been working on a groundbreaking project during the last 18 months - they have turned milk bottles sourced by the company’s own staff into recycled combs!
Denman celebrated World Ocean Day (8 June) with a very special launch. As a manufacturer committed to progressive sustainability, Denman has created the Milk Bottle Comb – a professional quality detangling comb crafted from plastic milk bottles.
The Innovation and Design Team from Denman have been working on the comb for months, sourcing HDPE milk bottle material collected from staff and from factory and HQ kitchens.
The bottles are deposited in designated bins with no contamination and reground along with the caps and labels before the polymer is injected into the moulds. The manufactured combs vary in colour which is a unique expression of the cap colours used in the grinding process in each batch and part of this incredible comb’s sustainable story.
Marcus McCay, Design Manager at Denman shares the story:
“Bill Lynn, one of our Process Managers first floated the idea of recycling milk bottles as a usable waste stream for our manufacturing. We need a certificate of conformance with granulated plastic entering the factory but milk bottles gave us control of the regrind content. Milk is a staple yielding a lot of waste and the bottles are produced in food grade high density polyethylene. The material has been proven with a data sheet provided by the bottling company. As an added bonus bringing a washed empty milk bottle to work has zero carbon footprint, as people are travelling to work anyway. It frees up more space in the domestic recycling bin too!”
The Denman D29 Milk Bottle Comb has wide rounded teeth for gentle and effective detangling and is great at distributing product, and HJ can't believe that something this nice is made from old milk bottles!
