Waste Management forms Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council with healthcare industries

Eight companies across the healthcare, recycling and waste management industries have come together to form a technical coalition seeking to inspire and enable sustainable, cost effective recycling solutions for plastic products and materials used in the delivery of healthcare.

The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) is made up of members from Becton, Dickinson and Company, Cardinal Health, Engineered Plastics, DuPont, Hospira, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clark and Waste Management.

Understanding that the potential for plastics recycling is significant to both reducing environmental and human health impacts, HPRC exists in a collaborative effort to be a change agent for sustainable healthcare product and packaging lifecycle with the end goal of increasing the overall recycling of healthcare plastics. HPRC is unique in its focus on identification of plastics recycling barriers and solution development along the entire value chain, seeking to affect plastics recycling from healthcare product design and manufacturing through product use, disposal and recycle.

HPRC is currently engaged in three initiatives aimed at enabling recycling of select plastics. The first initiative, healthcare plastics value chain mapping, is focused on defining the healthcare value chain and identifying issues and barriers that disable plastics recycling. The second initiative, design for recycling guidelines, is focused on developing a document that articulates product and packaging designs that could enhance recycling potential. The third initiative, pilot study programs within healthcare facilities, is focused on building a data model to facilitate economic analysis of plastics recycling.