Kimberly-Clark honors PPE waste diversion leaders

The Kimberly-Clark (KC) Professional business unit of Texas-based global consumer products company Kimberly-Clark has listed nearly 50 companies as 2023 Greenovation Award winners for participating in its personal protective equipment (PPE) landfill diversion program.

The companies were recognized for diverting a total of nearly 220 tons of discarded PPE from landfills last year through the KC Professional RightCycle program, which enables KC Professional customers to recycle single-use items like garments, gloves, hoods, boot covers, masks and safety eyewear.

Some of the companies recognized for operating PPE recycling collection sites in 2022 (and the locations of those sites) include: Boston Scientific (Dorado, Puerto Rico), Catalent (Madison, Wisconsin), Cook Medical (Bloomington Indiana), Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (Grand Rapids, Michigan), the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor and Ellsworth, Maine), MilliporeSigma (Danvers, Massachusetts), Pfizer (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Philips (Reedsville, Pennsylvania), Promega (Fitchburg, Wisconsin), Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Rensselaer, New York), and W. L. Gore (Phoenix, Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Elkton, Maryland).

Since its inception in 2011, the RightCycle Program has helped more than 1,000 of its customers divert more than 2,250 tons of discarded PPE from landfills, according to KC Professional.

“Millipore Sigma has a long-standing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship [and] the RightCycle program made it easy for us to maintain that commitment and achieve our sustainability goals,” says Jameson Wentworth of medical products maker MilliporeSigma.

“Our customers have displayed exceptional leadership in sustainability through this program as well as other initiatives to reduce their environmental impact,” says Ashley Davis, global sustainability manager of KC Professional. “We commend them on their accomplishments and wish them continued success on their sustainability journeys.”

KC says material collected through the RightCycle Program is sent to regional recycling partners to become plastic pellets used to manufacture consumer products, including lawn furniture, benches and bicycle racks.

The Greenovation Awards were established by KC Professional in 2013 to honor the PPE waste diversion role played by program participants.