RecoMed, the PVC takeback scheme for single-use medical devices, has launched a new website in response to rising interest from the healthcare sector in reducing and recycling plastic waste.
RecoMed
RecoMed PVC takeback scheme launches new website
Set up in 2014, RecoMed provides an alternative, sustainable recycling route for waste medical items made from high-quality medical grade PVC.
Currently 37 UK NHS and private hospitals are actively participating in the scheme. Run by resource recovery specialist Axion in partnership with the British Plastics Federation (BPF), RecoMed is funded by VinylPlus, the voluntary sustainable development programme of the European PVC industry.
The first scheme of its kind in Europe, RecoMed co-ordinates every step in the recycling journey – from providing staff training and PVC collection bins in hospitals to delivering the shredded plastic to specialist recyclers where it is turned into horticultural products, such as tree-ties.
To date nearly 22.5 tonnes of PVC has been recycled – the equivalent of about 747,000 oxygen masks. The majority of this total, more than nine tonnes, was collected and recycled in 2019 alone.
Around 8,000,000 UK hospital procedures each year result in the disposal of single-use PVC masks and similar devices that could safely be recycled. These devices are currently sent to costly clinical disposal routes such as deep landfill after alternative treatment or incineration. In 2018/19 the NHS spent £58.5m (~€70m) in waste management costs.
Axion works with a wide range of clients, from Government agencies and local authorities to companies in diverse commercial sectors, on the practical development of new processing and collection methods to recover value from waste resources.