Glove Recycling Initiative at Birmingham University

Scientific Laboratory Supplies (SLS), in collaboration with Kimberly-Clark Professional™, have been working closely with the School of Metallurgy and Materials (Met and Mat), Birmingham University to help them realise their green goals.

The Dept of Met and Mat at Birmingham University get through 10 boxes of Kimtech™ disposable gloves, which is equivalent to 1000 gloves a week. They would normally have thrown these in the normal general waste bin which would then have gone to landfill. SLS, introduced the Kimberly-Clark Professional™ RightCycle® scheme to the department nearly a year ago and during this time the used gloves have collected and shipped to Kimberly-Clark’s recycling centres. They are then sorted and processed into plastic pellets. These pellets are then moulded into new plastic products e.g. patio furniture, plant pots, plastic shelving and more.

Paul Dugmore, Stores Manager (School of Met and Mat) commented: “We’ve been running with the RightCycle® scheme for nearly a year and I think it’s a great idea to have our gloves taken away and turned into something useful instead of them going into the normal waste system and probably ending up in landfill. It is an initiative I would encourage others to use for their uncontaminated, used Kimtech™ gloves.”

For more information about the RightCycle® scheme please contact [email protected].

More information online: www.kimtech.eu