A new way to think about medical recycling

Medical recycling is one of the most important types of recycling. Namely, tons of medical waste is created every year and if it wasn’t for the process of recycling this waste would pollute the atmosphere, soil and waters and many useful materials would be lost forever. If you ask any expert whether medical recycling is good, they will confirm this claim. However, there might be a new way to think about medical recycling that can make this process even more efficient.

According to some experts, even though current medical recycling is done with good intentions, this recycling is wrongheaded, expensive and there are cases when it is doing more damage than good. There is a need to rethink recycling. Namely, there are materials like aluminum and tin cans that are very difficult to create from virgin materials. So, the best idea is to recycle these materials.

However, when it comes to plastic and glass, the situation might be different. For instance, the cost of removal and transportation to recycling centers is very high and truth be told, making glass and plastic even from virgin materials is not so difficult. So, maybe medical facilities and people, in general, are recycling too much of these materials.

When we are talking about recycling we must think about the environment, but also about the economy. If we take a close look at recycling from these two separate points of views, we will notice that recycling doesn’t look so great. We should not forget that every piece of equipment we throw away has a certain life cycle that is changing once it is loaded in the vehicle headed to the nearest recycling plant. Recycling requires energy to gather the medical waste, to process this waste, to transport it and it also needs a certain amount of energy to prepare it for reuse and finally to add it in some items. The fact is that for some materials, recycling is very good, but for some of them, the benefits are not that great.

Items that contain metals and other similar materials that are hard to obtain and process are obviously good for recycling. On the other hand, paper and plastic based medical equipment and items should be limited. Modern landfills are changing and there might be a good solution for this type of waste. When we think about recycling especially medical recycling we must analyze all the aspects and our intentions too. We all want to preserve energy and protect the environment.

The good news is that more and more people involved in the process of managing medical facilities are thinking about recycling and its effects. This is no longer something new in this field and most of the hospitals, healthcare centers, and other medical facilities are investing in recycling. As the technology makes progress, the process of recycling is becoming more efficient and other options are becoming available too. Recycling is a useful process, but we should be prepared for changes in the future. Laboratory and Medical equipment Recycling