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Small colourful plastic rings/seals collected from Australian beaches?

3,749 points · submitted 1d ago by u/Raspberry_and_Lemon · Solved! · locked

My local beach cleaning group has collected dozens of these over the past few years. No one can identify what they’re from! (Including various AI chatbots.)

They’re solid plastic, possibly part of a pull tab/ring, and at least some of them seem to have come from Colgate-Palmolive products. Are they from soap? Shampoo? What do they look like on the actual product?

It’s driving me crazy!!

Solved: https://plastic-bottles.ready-online.com/en/page/body-care-plastic-bottles.html

176 comments · 95% upvoted · source · other discussions

comments

Larry_Safari 1 points · 14h ago · …ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.

Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.

lolly_tolly 2,131 points · 1d ago

Oh I know this one! It is a tamper proof seal. It goes on a pump bottle. I think they've changed the design, but it goes where the arrow is pointing. You have to twist it off and break off the ring to open it. I usually leave it on and recycle it with the bottle, but if it's being used on cruises that would be a choking hazard.

Edit: it's a choking hazard, not a cooking hazard

https://preview.redd.it/yx4aupoe7lxh1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df59a8792b7bce3133da5e227de8a80f8c88aeda

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 364 points · 1d ago

Oooh would the nozzle go through the hole?

lolly_tolly 198 points · 1d ago

Correct! And the bit where it's broken off would attach to the part below. This photo is from Woolies website and I think it's of an open bottle.

Substantial-Ruin-368 203 points · 1d ago

I bet you can find a sunscreen brand made by Colgate Palmolive too. Buy sunscreen, open at beach, litter at beach.

lolly_tolly 109 points · 1d ago

100% They've used this design for shampoos, body wash all sorts. It absolutely wouldn't surprise me if they also used it for sunscreen, though I don't use their sunscreen. And they don't use that design for sunscreen now.

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DefaultSubsAreTerrib 63 points · 1d ago

Honey with a pump dispenser would be genius!

Gigglemonkey 96 points · 1d ago

Better hope it never gets cold enough to crystalize in there. Having to hot water bath the honey bottle every time you want some in the winter sounds obnoxious.

CeruleanEidolon 25 points · 1d ago

I always transfer my honey into a glass jar, so then when it crystalizes I can just microwave it at 50% for 15 second intervals. That doesn't overheat it enough to change it chemically, and is much faster and less fussy than having to make a hot water bath for it.

Johk 2 points · 18h ago

You shouldn't microwave it, if it becomes too hot, you're destroying the bee's enzymes.

_Aj_ 28 points · 1d ago

They make little USB heating pads to keep coffee warm. I'm sure even a tiny bit of heat would keep honey warm. (1w isn't gonna blow the budget) 

nnnnnnnnnnm 96 points · 1d ago

A little bit of heat drastically improves flowability of honey, Dynamic Viscosity (mPa·s) is more than halved by raising temp from 20°C to 25°C.

SOURCE: I recently designed & installed a honey storage and dosing vessel with a jacketed hydronic heating loop for a large regional craft brewery with a well known honey double IPA.

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thecolourofthesky 29 points · 1d ago

I love reddit people.

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Tomur 5 points · 1d ago

It's year round too cold for honey where I am, for this reason. I haven't had honey in years.

NebelungPixie 3 points · 1d ago

Crystallize then powder in a blender or food processor.

layz2021 5 points · 1d ago

This is a hand cleaner/liquid soap

RectalScrote 9 points · 1d ago

That would be terrible.

thewingedshadow 3 points · 1d ago

It exists in Germany.

turbineslut 3 points · 1d ago

Also Slovenia. Beekeeping country!

Hash_Tooth 2 points · 15h ago

No way man, imagine cleaning that.

iliveforcorgibutts 4 points · 1d ago

Not verry relevant but i have this body wash :3

CardboardMice 3 points · 1d ago

Why so many colors? What’s the stick in the last pic for?

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Silly_Ball15 4,351 points · 1d ago

Why don’t you email Palmolive makers with those pictures, I’m sure they could probably identify them, they might also be interested to know that it’s polluting the environment, and do something about it.

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hybris0 408 points · 1d ago

Look at this: link

Found via search on Google, keywords: palmolive anti tamper seal

Then look at the images

https://preview.redd.it/iiug69a38lxh1.jpeg?width=491&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6c3868c618cc22d2ebe11ea9bd36abc3fc96072

Non_Creative_User 65 points · 1d ago

First time I've seen that. We don't have those in our country, thank goodness.

hybris0 9 points · 1d ago

Could be old stuff not anymore in production, replaced by anti tamper that actually remains attached to the bottle (like seen in another reply).

Or it's stuff produced in countries without a proper environmental policy in place to ban that crap. Recently Ive been in contact with can beverages that still had the closing lid that completely detached. It was many years I didn't see such a thing.

Duff5OOO 6 points · 1d ago

What part of that bottle are you thinking this is? I'm not seeing it.

EDIT: cant reply to you. Nah, thats a carry handle. I have bought that exact body wash several times. Clear from the other angle. https://imgur.com/pQALAPa

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vicariousgluten 37 points · 1d ago

Is the fourth picture the tab attached to ring? If so that looks like a break off seal for something. ColgatePalmolive would suggest toiletries but no idea what kind.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 11 points · 1d ago

Yes it is. Toiletries or cleaning products is my guess too but I can’t find any examples!

vicariousgluten 8 points · 1d ago

I’ve spent far too much of my morning googling Colgate Palmolive products and I’m wondering it it might be from one of their trigger cleaning products?

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 12 points · 1d ago

Me too mate 😂 I’m coming up to 24 hours on this

G4Designs 70 points · 1d ago

Interesting, it looks like they changed their logo in 2025 so these are potentially older.

https://preview.redd.it/0ru0wn88klxh1.png?width=1342&format=png&auto=webp&s=a067eb0905180587320553b1455b92c1dfb10428

shifty_fifty 76 points · 1d ago

Somewhat ironically, the logo highly resembles a piece of plastic rubbish someone would find on the beach.

DeeDee_GigaDooDoo 4 points · 1d ago

Possibly but there's a good chance they are still running out old product and/or haven't updated their stamps/dies yet.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 16 points · 1d ago

Solved - https://plastic-bottles.ready-online.com/en/page/body-care-plastic-bottles.html

Queasy-King2586 145 points · 1d ago

Not exactly, but it reminds me of the plastic pull tab from this product.

https://preview.redd.it/cm9lvh876lxh1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=302a334afbd026be59cea0b14d915d3a046ec153

Sepalous 12 points · 1d ago

I think they're the pull tab for an anti-tamper seal.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 89 points · 1d ago

My title describes the thing

No one in the beach cleaning group had any idea what these seals/rings are from - they could possibly have come from Southeast Asia?

Google Lens/Chat GPT/Claude all just say it’s a tamper-evident seal but I can’t find any leads on what kinds of products use them, other than Colgate-Palmolive.

Very grateful for any help!

AnusStapler 74 points · 1d ago

It is branded, so probably used on a cruise ship or something like that? It looks like a pull tab, but it's also very small for a pull tab.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 77 points · 1d ago

One of them is still attached to a Colgate-Palmolive strip

feesih0ps 26 points · 1d ago

very likely a shipping container has fallen off a ship and split open under the sea somewhere

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goseephoto 17 points · 1d ago

Why do you say used on a cruise ship? I worked on cruise ships for 20 years and they were very good with rubbish.

I would say these have washed up from Asia or the pacific islands.

Rhelino 18 points · 1d ago

What’s so strange about it its that, apart from that one tab, they are all the exact same piece of the product, with no additional plastic. Like, the other components of the packaging must have disintegrated but this piece is so stubborn. Why does (almost) none of them come with the piece it’s attached to?
So strange.
Also I notice that they’re not flat. It must be a very specific type of packaging.
I’m sorry I can’t help but I totally understand why it’s driving you crazy lol

hatchetation 2 points · 19h ago

Very similar thoughts here!

It makes so little sense that a bunch of these tabs being shipped separately from the product would get lost. Like, nobody at a factory will ever pick the green ones out of the bag to assemble the green thing.

But, how many pallets of various products would need to go overboard and smashed to bits to have all these wash up ... wildly confusing

ohdearitsrichardiii 27 points · 1d ago

Colgate probably has facebook, post it to their page and ask

vicariousgluten 5 points · 1d ago

Is the fourth picture the tab attached to ring? If so that looks like a break off seal for something. ColgatePalmolive would suggest toiletries but no idea what kind.

moistmarbles 5 points · 1d ago

If many of the same objects are waging up on the same beach, it’s probably from a nearby restaurant or hotel dumping their trash in the ocean

CourageExcellent4768 4 points · 1d ago

I wonder if these are from a container ship that fell off...another reddit community posted Garfield phones & Legos that keep washing up years later.

ThrowawayHat256 13 points · 1d ago

Not an exact match but oil bottles have similar plastic tabs

https://preview.redd.it/92wilbcf5mxh1.jpeg?width=495&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=581cbdb1ea2a979ff3aae330b274459059ef496d

Editengine 18 points · 1d ago

Well everybody seems to be very sure that they're the seal for some type of container. And it's a beach. Maybe check local beach shops to see if they're selling sunscreen that uses something like this?

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 25 points · 1d ago

They’ve washed up from the ocean, most likely from somewhere further afar.

Para_The_Normal 3 points · 1d ago

Very possibly they are the result of some typhoon winds and flooding that have happened closer to Asia and been in the ocean for a while.

SpaceMover 3 points · 1d ago

I've heard surfers use soapy products to get into wetsuits easier, maybe thats it?

Jumpy_Fig3312 3 points · 22h ago

Thank you to you and your friends for picking these up. I live on the pacific ocean in washington and my kiddos and i will go out and pick up rubbish off of the beach in honor of you all! We always carry a trash bag with us.. but the next one is dedicated to you all! Many blessings!

Prize_Door_864 6 points · 1d ago

Now I’m invested in this mystery too. The fact that you’ve collected dozens over the years and nobody can identify them is wild hopefully someone recognizes the piece from an actual product and finally solves it.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 3 points · 1d ago

Me too!

atomicshrimp 6 points · 1d ago

The wide variety of colours has to be a clue here. Like maybe this is from some product designed to appeal to children, or the colours are to differentiate them from multiples in a family bathroom or something.

s0pran0_pipistrelle 4 points · 1d ago

Why so many soap tab will be on a beach? It’s crazy that something unrelated to beach activities will be there. I’m curious why.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 7 points · 1d ago

They’ve most likely been littered, ended up in the ocean, and then washed up on the beach.

mmm_burrito 8 points · 1d ago

Could be the wash up from a cargo ship loss of some kind. Happens every now and then.

MelookRS 2 points · 1d ago

Or cruise ships, with people just tossing their trash overboard.

kfar666 4 points · 1d ago

You should read the book Waste Wars: the wild afterlife of your trash. Often times plastic and other garbage ending up on beaches is a result of the "recycling" industry.

leurognathus 6 points · 1d ago

I wonder if a container ship lost a container full of these.

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nuimipasa 2 points · 1d ago

If they're from toothbrushes, why are there so many of them???

nathiel_1 2 points · 1d ago

My guess is some kind of seal opener

PoliteLunatic 2 points · 1d ago

Tongue cleaner?

Abbot_of_Cucany 2 points · 1d ago

What mystifies me is that there are so many different colors. When I've seen these on bottles, there might be a different color for different variations of the product (matching the cap color). But that's typically 4 or 5 colors, not this many.

ThemFatale_ 2 points · 1d ago

Someone said email Palmolive, but also consider tipping off a journalist. If it’s a pattern, it could be an interesting story. Companies usually won’t GAF or change until they’re exposed in the press or some post goes viral, unfortunately.

Fine_Vast380 2 points · 1d ago

https://preview.redd.it/kdiwp1a2epxh1.jpeg?width=1320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c816ca811f3f9b639d98818bd3e3699f2fbd366

Could they be the leftovers from the o rings for braces?

springboks 2 points · 18h ago

Wow this place turned into a consumerist nightmare real fast. It's what is this thing. Not how corporate should recycle.

modus-operandi 4 points · 1d ago

Probably indeed a pull tab seal of some sort. This doesn’t seem to include drawings, but is a patent for Colgate Palmolive tamper resistant seals:  https://patents.justia.com/patent/5094357

JaggedMetalOs 2 points · 1d ago

There are drawings in a pdf here and it doesn't look like the same design

Brick_in_a_sock 11 points · 1d ago

My immediate thought would be the gasket/ seal between a electric toothbrush and the electric motor component.

This diagram isnt the best but the bottom portion of the the toothbrush head is a different material and comes in a variety of colors.

Likely molded and accidently dropped in the ocean?

https://preview.redd.it/xttw4ei24lxh1.jpeg?width=554&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db98a83ae04299066d1e21351c7eac5af820d589

hoemahtoe 17 points · 1d ago

Those are circular and flat and all tend to be the exact same across brands. Unless there's a brand out there that adds a tab to theirs, this is unlikely

https://preview.redd.it/r0e2ql4yblxh1.jpeg?width=370&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=467cf5b44b13e2964a98b011dae42d9605d2706e

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 14 points · 1d ago

Ooh very interesting! It does look like these have been snapped at the ridges/teeth though.

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atomicshrimp 1 points · 1d ago

This sort of idea seems a good candidate just on account of the wide variety of colours. The colours would help people identify which one is theirs.

BleepBlorpBloopBlorp 4 points · 1d ago

My bet is a couple crew members on a cruise ship or navy vessel got told to open a bunch of sunscreen or personal hygiene products at the beginning of a cruise. They sat on the deck, tossed these into a bucket while they chatted, and then dumped the whole thing overboard. Because that’s where a LOT of cruise and navy trash goes.

SentientMarshmallow- 2 points · 1d ago

The ‘CP’ logo changed last year, so there’s that. I’m still drilling down Google images for something more reliable than regurgitating what’s been proposed here.

VVrayth 2 points · 19h ago

No one can identify what they’re from! (Including various AI chatbots.)

Stop asking AI chatbots, they don't know anything.

Character-Zombie-961 3 points · 1d ago

I hope it's been confirmed this only is used by one brand, which isn't true. I've seen these on a few products.

Raspberry_and_Lemon [OP] 5 points · 1d ago

Do you remember any specific examples?

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