Recycling Options for Single-Use Gloves
With COVID-19 upon us, single-use gloves are in use more than ever. The headlines that quickly followed the virus outbreak in the US have often focused on used gloves strewn on the ground, in parks, and in parking lots. For those working in materials management, this did not come as a surprise, but instead piqued our interest to find a way to manage the discarded gloves.
Two companies that are facilitating the collection and recycling of disposal/single-use gloves are TerraCycle® and Kimberly-Clark Professional. Both companies implement a discarded glove collection program and forward the materials to processors for making into a feedstock for manufacturers. The manufacturers are using the recycled-content feedstock for making new products.
TerraCycle’s Disposable Gloves Zero Waste Box Program began in 2014 when TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box division was launched. “Since then it's quickly become one of the highest volume waste streams we divert from landfills—80 tons of used gloves collected.” reports Sophia Berrios, Global Marketing & E-Commerce Manager, Zero Waste…