by Brianna Crandall — July 13, 2016 — Kimberly-Clark Professional, the professional products division of Kimberly-Clark, global provider of solutions to enhance health, hygiene and well-being, has expanded its innovative recycling program — RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional — to manufacturing and other industrial environments, enabling these customers to divert non-hazardous waste, such as nitrile gloves and apparel, from landfills.
RightCycle is said to be the first large-scale recycling program for non-hazardous lab, cleanroom and industrial waste. Since its launch in 2011, the program has diverted more than 300 tons of waste from landfills. The items are sent to recyclers in the United States and turned into nitrile powder and pellets that are used to create eco-responsible consumer products and durable goods, such as flowerpots and lawn furniture, benches and bicycle racks.
John R. Adams, industrial business leader, Kimberly-Clark Professional, pointed out:
By recycling rather than discarding nitrile gloves and single-use apparel, customers can divert these hard-to-recycle waste streams from the landfill in order to get one step closer to achieving their zero waste goals while reducing their waste disposal costs at the same time. In addition, we are helping to give our safety and industrial products a second life.
RightCycle enables customers to recycle thin mil nitrile gloves, apparel items (including accessories such as hoods, masks, shoe covers, etc.), and Kimtech Pure 100 percent polypropylene wipers. To qualify for the program, the items must be free of hazardous materials, biohazards and wet food.
Adams added:
As a rule of thumb, if our personal protective equipment products, such as nitrile gloves and apparel, are being disposed of as regular trash versus hazardous waste, then we can likely accept them.
California success story
Participants in the RightCycle Program have reaped many benefits, and one company — Lundberg Family Farms of Richvale, California — credits the program with helping it achieve a Platinum Zero Waste Business Facility Certification from the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.
Gloves previously represented about 15 percent of the company’s landfill waste, so switching to Kimberly-Clark Professional gloves and the RightCycle program was an easy decision, says Lundberg. The family-owned company recycled close to one ton of nitrile gloves in its first few months in the RightCycle program, and now expects to divert four tons of glove waste annually.
Expanding recycling program
In addition to the industrial program launch, Kimberly-Clark Professional is continuing to expand the RightCycle program, bringing it to Western Europe and exploring expansion in other regions.
To learn more about Kimberly-Clark’s global sustainability efforts, visit the company’s Sustainability 2022 Web page.
