Recycling For Medical Supplies

Hospital facilities, doctor’s offices, and health and dental clinics typically have materials such as gloves, syringes, and gauze that are prepared for the medical professional to use, but are not. The unused medical materials are often disposed of along with used materials and other medical waste, despite the fact that they can be safely re-used.

Last year, MedShare, a re-distributor of medical surplus, collected over five hundred and fifty tons of surplus and unused medical supplies and made them available to free clinics, medical mission teams, and hospitals in impoverished areas in the United States and developing countries.  MedShare currently partners with over eighty hospitals to re-use and recycle equipment and supplies that they cannot or will not use.

It is estimated that hospitals generate over two million tons of waste annually. Through working with MedShare, hospitals can divert more than five thousand different types of medical equipment and supplies. MedShare places recycling barrels in hospitals in key locations where supplies are typically used such as operating rooms and emergency rooms and provides training to staff on which items are ideal for recycling and donation. Bins are collected on a regular basis by MedShare and distributed to medical facilities in need of them. The organization provides an online ordering system so medical professionals at receiving facilities can request only those items that are needed – ensuring less waste.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: In the US we take items like examination gloves and gauze for granted, but that’s not the case in other countries. If your medical facility has a policy of disposing of all medical material regardless of their use, consider partnering with an organization like MedShare. It’ll reduce your amount of medical waste and help others in need around the globe.

How To Recycle Single Use Coffee Pods

Single-cup coffee makers are now a staple in today’s workplace. They can be found in staff break-rooms, kitchens, and customer reception areas. While they are very convenient and appreciated by those wanting a fresh cup of coffee or tea, the single serving pods do cause both an environmental and waste disposal concern as they are not recyclable.

It is anticipated that thirteen percent of the adults in the United States drink single-serving brewed coffee every day. This percentage is expected to increase each year as the popularity of the machines continue to grow. Luckily, coffee manufacturers are attempting to address the waste generation and recycling issue.

Most single-cup pods are made from a mix of plastic, aluminum, coffee grounds and paper. Each of those items can be recycled individually, but not when combined which is beyond the abilities of standard municipal recycling services.

Some waste reduction solutions do exist. TerraCycle provides recycling for used coffee pods and has diverted close to twenty five million capsules from landfills since 2009. Green Mountain also offers a workplace program for composting coffee grounds and recycling materials.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business relies on single serving coffee makers, take some time and look at how much waste they produce. You may discover that participating in a recycling program, or switching back to the old fashioned coffee pot, will save you more money!

Turning Markers Into Fuel

Last year, students at an elementary school in San Rafael, California started an online petition and created a video requested that Crayola, a manufacturer of crayons, markers, and other school and art supplies, start a take-back recycling program to collect the millions of unusable markers typically thrown away by schools every year.

When the online petition started, Crayola issued a statement saying that they did not have the necessary infrastructure in place to process a recycling take-back program. As a result, several other competitors in the marketplace stepped forward and offered schools a recycling program if their products were used instead of Crayola’s.

One year and ninety thousand signatures later, Crayola announced that it had changed direction and would begin the process of obtaining and recycling waste markers. Marker caps can be recycled with most hard plastics and the marker barrel can be recycled after the tip and reservoir are removed. In addition, Crayola’s ColorCycle program allows schools and other groups to collect spent markers and ship them free of charge to a processing facility where they are converted into clean-burning fuel. This process uses the entire marker and does not require any dis-assembly beforehand.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: In this day and age, more and more customers are demanding environmental accountability from the organizations they do business with. What is your business doing to show that recycling and reuse are important? If you don’t, you might find your competitors stepping forward!

Recycling Asphalt On The Rise

Indicating that the construction and transportation sectors are looking to cut costs by using recycled materials, it was reported that in 2011 the highest levels to date of warm-mix asphalt had been used in the construction of new pavement for roads, driveways, and parking lot areas. Warm mix is a form of asphalt that is generated using recycled asphalt siding shingles and reclaimed pavement.

It is estimated that almost seventy million tons of recycled asphalt-based waste materials were collected in 2011 as a result of reconstruction and demolition work. The unwanted asphalt is then sold for reuse in the manufacturing of new pavement.

Another benefit of the warm-mix asphalt is that it requires less energy use to produce the same quality level of traditionally manufacture pavements. As a result, businesses save money by using it both in not needing as much in raw materials but also in the energy costs to produce it. Due to the lower production temperature, there are also less emissions that occur during the paving process. Users of the warm mix method claim the product has a high level of performance while helping to make the construction of roads and driveways a bit more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business is responsible for or involved in the construction of roads, parking lots, or driveways, informing your customers about the benefits of recycled asphalt is something they may want to hear. And don’t forget! If you have unwanted or old asphalt materials, don’t pay to dispose of them before you investigate their market value!

 

University Of Florida Wins With Green Construction

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida first place in the large institutions category in the EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge. The RainWorks program is designed to motivate engineers, construction firms, campus planners and landscape architects to incorporate environmentally conscious building practices into new or existing structures.

The winning design specifically focused on Reitz Lawn, an eleven-acre grass-covered area, and how to remove stormwater pollutants before reaching Lake Alice, which is part of the Floridian Aquifer. The University of Florida plan includes a campus garden, rain gardens, collection pools, green walls and roofing. The plan also aims to cut water usage to maintain the campus by over three million gallons each year. Unique to this plan was the level of student input and comments that were solicited to determine where members of the campus community saw a need for improvement. The plan was then developed in conjunction with a faculty representative and twelve graduate students from disciplines ranging from landscape architecture, agricultural engineering and environmental and biological engineering.

In the Florida region, stormwater poses a serious challenge to maintaining water quality for the region. When contaminated stormwater reaches rivers and lakes, it pollutes the habitats of wildlife and can contribute to flooding – causing a multitude of problems for residents and businesses.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Green construction and landscaping practices such as green roofs, environmentally friendly building materials and surfaces and landscaping with native plants and rain gardens are some of the most frequent ways to incorporate green infrastructure into a residential or commercial building project. Be sure you incorporate them into the money saving options offered to clients!

Michigan Launches Mercury Waste Collection Program

The state of Michigan’s Environmental Quality Department is partnering with a specialized waste management and environmental services group called the Environmental Quality Company,  to offer free recycling of mercury to all businesses and residents in the state. Mercury is considered a hazardous and toxic chemical of must be disposed of in accordance with state and federal environmental regulations  Failure to dispose of mercury properly can not only endanger the soil and local waterways but can lead to substantial monetary fine and criminal prosecution.

Being promoted as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Mercury Collection Project, the mercury collection program will be available through the end of September, 2013 and is designed to provide an affordable and accessible solution to recycling mercury. For many, the easiest form of participation will be through specialized free of charge mailing containers available through Environmental Quality. Into these containers, businesses and individuals can place thermostats, gauges containing mercury, dental amalgam, thermometers and hydrometers. Many of these items are commonly found in medical and dental offices, auto repair and machine shops, and engineering and construction services. State officials hope this program will provide an inexpensive and easy way to safety discard of broken or unwanted equipment without posing any hazardous to the environment.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you work with tools or equipment made with mercury, it’s essential that you follow the regulations for proper disposal of unwanted or usable equipment. Take a moment to call your local and state environmental protection office to see if they offer a program like Michigan’s – and if they don’t, ask them why they aren’t!

 

New Mexico Town Trades Bags For Benches

In a new partnership between residents of Las Cruces, New Mexico and the outdoor furnishings manufacturer Trex Company, a collection of unwanted and used plastic bags is underway to help defray the cost of new benches for the city’s parks and recreation areas.

Trex, which makes furniture made of wood alternatives such as plastic, is sponsoring the collection effort which will run through the spring and summer. Local businesses and residents will be able to drop off and recycle a variety of plastic bags including department and grocery bags, plastic bags for food, newspapers, laundry and dry cleaning, as well as bubble wrap and plastic bags used for packing and shipping. For every thirty thousand bags collected, Trex will provide one all-weather park bench made from their alternative materials formula.

City officials are enthusiastic and claim growing participation and support from members of the community, including local businesses as it’s a low cost way to enhance the city’s parks and overall quality of life for residents and visitors. Due to budget cutbacks, the city would be unable to fund upgrades to the existing benches or acquire additional ones. By galvanizing community involvement, the city is both able to promote recycling while obtaining some much desired outdoor seating.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Are your elected officials for your local government thinking outside the box when it comes to waste management and recycling? If your town has a public park or green space, how is its upkeep being funded? A plastic bag collection initiative might be a great way to cut costs!

 

More Colleges Creating Zero Waste Plans

Seen as a way to both cut waste disposal fees and appeal to students’ desire for environmentally sustainable measures, more and more colleges and universities are moving to enact plans designed to achieve a goal of “zero waste”. One of the schools that has recently embraced recycling practices is Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. School officials have announced that they have established a goal of diverting ninety percent of all generated waste from regional landfills within the next ten years.

The University currently has a forty percent diversion rate and the first step to improving that was the implementation of single-stream recycling throughout all campus academic and administrative buildings. Students, teachers, and employees will now be able to mix all recyclable material in one disposal container instead of having to separate. It is expected that this switch will bring instant increases in the amount of recyclables collected each month and reduce the total amount of recyclables that end up in the trash.

The University will also be using the initiative to better analyze the consumption habits of the campus community as a way to plan future ways to promote re-use and reduction. Additional plans for expansion of recycling services, including recycling efforts in dormitory buildings, cafeterias and snack cafes, and athletic facilities, will continue to be implemented in the weeks and months ahead.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: The most important part of addressing your waste disposal and recycling habits is to come up with both long term and short term plans. Where is your business right now in terms of expenses and consumption? Where would you like to be? Starting even with small steps today can save you money tomorrow!

Walgreens Embraces Green Building Techniques

Walgreens, the popular pharmacy and drug store retail chain, is scheduled to build its first fully self-powered green commercial building utilizing geothermal, wind, and solar building technologies.

The store recently announced its plans to go “net zero” energy usage and become a leader in green building for retail and commercial use. Environmentally friendly construction techniques have grown in popularity in those business sectors with high energy usage such as data centers and manufacturing plants but retails locations have been slower to embrace the change.

The new, environmentally friendly store will be constructed in Evanston, Illinois, and is replacing an old Walgreens store that was energy ineffective and required updating. Customers coming to the new store probably won’t see much of a difference, but behind the scenes there will be wind turbines and solar panels, geothermal heat, LED lighting, and high efficiency refrigeration.

Designers of the store believe that when finished, the facility will produce more energy than it consumes therefore eliminating the monthly energy costs from the red into the black.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Even if you don’t have the word “green” in your business name like Walgreens does, you can still embrace smart green building techniques the next time your facility needs updating or new construction. Not only can these enhancements save you money in the long run, but they might even get your business some good press for being forward-thinking and environmentally conscious!

U.S. Army Starts Battery Recycling Program

The United States Army is launching a first of its kind recycling program at its Fort Drum Army post in upstate New York. The new program will help soldiers and base employees improve their recycling of household single-use batteries.

The battery recycling initiative is brand new to the Army and the idea was originally conceived by the Public Works Environmental Division. If the test pilot is successful, it the program will likely be implemented at bases around the country.

Collection of the batteries will be simple and easy as the new containers are attained to the current recycling bins that are placed in strategic and high-traffic locations throughout the base.

As battery usage is high on the base, the effort to recycle came about as a way to reduce trash disposal costs. The Army must ship all solid waste to off-site landfills and the less that it considered waste, the greater the savings.

The base will send all collected batteries to the base’s scrap metal purchaser. For now, only household alkaline batteries will be recycled. Lead-acid, rechargeable, or any other batteries that would be considered toxic waste will be disposed of according to state and federal guidelines.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: How many batteries does your business use every month? Instead of putting them in the trash, consider a special recycling program – you’ll be helping to keep them out of the landfill while cutting your costs!