The British Plastics Federation's (BPF) PVC take-back scheme RecoMed has now been rolled out to seven hospitals.
The scheme, conducted by the BPF in conjunction with Axion Consulting and funded by VinylPlus, is a collection scheme that helps to recycle clean PVC medical waste. Items collected include IV solution bags; oxygen tubes, anaesthetic masks and oxygen masks.
By collecting these items, the scheme helps avoid certain medical devices unnecessarily ending up in clinical waste, which would otherwise be sent for incineration. These are instead recycled into products for the horticultural industry, such as tree ties, promoting a circular economy and reducing waste in this sector.
As of March, the scheme had recycled more than 830kg of PVC medical waste.
A BPF spokesman said: “RecoMed is an excellent example of what the industry can achieve through collaboration and voluntary commitment, further improving the sustainability story of plastics and in particular PVC.
“Hospitals in the UK are now saving money on waste disposal costs by recycling non-infectious PVC medical items instead of sending them to landfill or to incineration.”