Connecting Supply with Demand: An Experiment in Regional Healthcare Plastics Recycling

The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council and Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) facilitated a cooperative, first-of-its-kind regional recycling program in the Chicago area and the results of this innovative pilot are in.
 
With a few exceptions, plastics used in the healthcare industry are single use materials representing a linear “take-make-dispose” economy. In response to current widespread low recycling rates, HPRC and PLASTICS asked the question: Is it possible to radically increase the amount of clinical healthcare plastics managed as technical materials in a circular “make-use-return” economy?
 
To answer this question, HPRC and PLASTICS designed and implemented a multi-hospital plastics recycling project in the Chicago market. Focused on non-infectious plastic packaging and products collected from clinical areas of the hospitals, the project sought to demonstrate a viable business model for the recycling of healthcare plastics on a regional basis.

Read more and download the full report on the HPRC website.

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