Capturing Medical Plastics ‘Well Suited to Recycling’

Marissa Heffernan • October 23, 2024

Resource Recycling


The medical and research fields hold great potential for closed-loop plastic recycling as long as logistics can be solved, some in the industry recently said – and several companies are working to do just that. 


The panelists discussed their work in an Oct. 3 Northeast Recycling Council webinar, “Reducing and Diverting Plastic Waste in Bio-Medical Laboratories and Facilities, Part 2: Diverse Solutions to Meet the Supply of Bio-Med Plastic Waste.” 


Sam White, CEO of GreenLabs Recycling, noted that 30,000 tons of biopharma single-use plastic is disposed of every year globally, much of it recyclable. GreenLabs recycled 200,000 pounds in 2023, he added, but “you can see the huge gap that we have to fill” collectively. 

James O’Brien, co-founder and CEO of Polycarbin, added that not only is much of the plastic disposed of by research labs recyclable, but it’s an ideal stream due to the “incredible homogeneity of plastic types,” the way that lab workflows are designed, and the interest of scientists in not only recycling but recycling accurately. 


He noted that there is a “unique opportunity in labs” as well as hospitals, but hospitals have more plastic types and those working in them are under more time pressure, making it more difficult. 


On the hospital side of the equation, Katherine Hofmann, sustainability manager at Eastman, said the company not only makes a significant amount of specialty plastics for the medical industry but is working in partnership with the Healthcare Plastic Recycling Council and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste on a hospital plastic recycling pilot in Houston. The pilot is largely handling pre-patient material, which doesn’t come into contact with patients. 


She said 85% of the plastic that comes out of a hospital is clean and not contaminated, but the trick is finding space to store it in a hospital space and creating a system that works for nurses, who are short on time and highly focused on patient care. 


“There’s a significant volume here of really clean, high-quality materials that are really well-suited to recycling, given the high performance requirements for plastics in the space,” Hofmann said. “They really have a high purity, there’s very few additives, very few colorants. They really are ideal.” 


The goal of the pilot project is a medical recycling system that is economically viable at scale, she said.


“We’re really looking to establish recycling in a way that does not require subsidies and continues to run in the area after we set it up,” Hofmann said, adding that the groups are also compiling a playbook for setting up these systems. 


Back in the lab, O’Brien emphasized the demand from scientists for more circular options. Polycarbin runs a closed-loop, brand-agnostic system, so it takes in lab plastics and remanufactures the resin into new, similar lab products. Over 1,000 labs are now participating, he said, and Polycarbin just launched PPE and nitrile glove recycling this year. 


It plans to expand from its current markets in New England and California, growing into Atlanta in 2025, and recently announced a partnership with Labcon North America. 


GreenLabs’ White said that the company decided to expand by partnering with hazardous waste disposal company Veolia, which allows them to collect, sterilize and recycle used pipette tips as well as the empty pipette tip boxes. 


GreenLabs takes the flake it creates and manufactures a small benchtop holding bin for the recyclable materials they seek to collect, so scientists can see what their materials are being recycled into, White said. 


“We can barely keep up with demand for this product,” White added, noting that scientists are often eager to participate. “They do such powerful work for human health, and they all want to provide a healthy environment as well.”



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By Megan Fontes May 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) published its Chemical Recycling Policy Position on May 30, 2025. The purpose of the policy statement is to articulate guiding principles for environmentally responsible chemical recycling of plastics. NERC supports the conservation of natural resources, waste minimization, and recognizes the role of recycling in reaching these goals. Plastic is a prevalent material for packaging and other products due to its material properties. Producing virgin plastic from fossil fuels is an extractive process with negative environmental and social impacts. Therefore, NERC supports reduction, reuse, and recycling processes that displace virgin production in plastics where environmentally preferable. You can view the policy statement here: https://www.nerc.org/chemical-recycling . The Policy Position was developed by the Subcommittee of the NERC Chemical Recycling Committee. Participants on the Subcommittee included Committee Chair Tom Metzner, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP); Claudine Ellyin, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP); John Fay, Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA); Anthony Fontana, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Retired ; Michael Fowler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP); Timothy Kerr, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Left MDE ; Shannon McDonald, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE); Chaz Miller, Ex-Officio, NERC Board; Elizabeth Moore, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP); Marc Moran, Pennsylvania Department Of Environmental Protection; Michael Nork, New Hampshire Department Of Environmental Services; Megan Schulz-Fontes, Northeast Recycling Council (NERC); and Richard Watson, Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA). NERC created the Chemical Recycling Committee in 2022 with the goal of sharing information on new technologies called “chemical recycling.” The Committee shares information on the efficacy, cost, and impacts of these new technologies. Our Policy is the result of those efforts. The Committee is open to NERC state members and several advisory member organizations whose participation has been approved by the state members serving on the committee. NERC has published several other policy positions including the Post-Consumer Recycled Content Policy (2019) and Product Stewardship and Producer Responsibility Policy (2018), which can be found among others on NERC’s website: https://www.nerc.org/policy-positions-and-statements . For more information, contact Megan Schulz-Fontes, Executive Director, at megan@nerc.org .
May 28, 2025
Waste Advantage NERC’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Commodity Values Survey Report for the period January – March 2025 showed a slight jump in the average commodity prices for Q1. The average value of all commodities increased by 9% without residuals to $102.34 and 8% with residuals to $89.62, as compared to last quarter. Single stream increased by 12% without residuals and 11% with residuals, while dual stream/source separated increased by 10% without residuals and 9% with residuals compared to last quarter. The average percentage for outbound tons marketed per commodity in calendar year 2024 showed decreases for all commodities as compared to 2022, except for polypropylene and bulky rigids, which increased by 40% and 29%, respectively. We also see an increase in mixed glass and residue, as compared to 2022, by 31% and 8%, respectively, further offsetting the decreases in marketed commodity percentages across the board. Notably, green, brown, and clear glass had the largest fall with clear glass decreasing by 77%. Changes in calculation methodology may affect these trends. Percentages are derived from tonnages reported for calendar year 2024 as opposed to percentage breakdowns in previous years. This is the 24th quarterly report in NERC’s series of reports on the market value of commodities from MRFs in the Northeast. This report includes information from 19 MRFs representing twelve (12) states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. These survey results reflect the differing laws and collection options in the participating states. Five of the states included in this report have beverage container deposit laws. As a result, fewer glass bottles, PET bottles and aluminum cans are processed in MRFs in those states. Those MRFs are also likely to have less revenue from those recyclables. In addition, the report reflects a mix of single stream, dual stream, and source separation to collect recyclables with single stream being the most common approach. The type of collection used will have an impact on MRF design and operation. Thus, the data from this report reflects the unique blend of facilities and statewide laws in the reporting states. Residual refers to the incoming material that cannot be marketed and goes to disposal. The value without residuals reflects the value of a perfect ton of marketed material, while the value with residuals reflects the value of each ton processed with the costs associated of disposing unmarketable material. Note: In many cases, recovered glass goes to market but at a negative value. This data is not intended to be used as a price guide for MRF contracts. NERC’s database represents single and dual stream MRFs, states with and without beverage container deposits, a wide variety in markets and geographic access to markets, and variety of materials collected for processing at the participating facilities. As a result, it represents the diversity of operating conditions in these locations and should not be used as a price guideline for a specific program. For more information, contact Megan Schulz-Fontes, Executive Director, at megan@nerc.org or visit www.nerc.org .
By Megan Fontes May 22, 2025
2024 Average Percentage of Outbound Tons Marketed per Commodity Published; New Format: Report Includes Q1 2025 Individual Commodity Average Prices
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