The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) is pleased to welcome Boston Scientific, a global medical technology company, as its newest member. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that help clinicians treat approximately 30 million patients each year.
“We are delighted to have Boston Scientific join our efforts,” says Peylina Chu, Director of HPRC. “As an industry leader, Boston Scientific has a passion for solving the challenges that matter most, motivated by a deep caring for human life and a strong sense of corporate and environmental responsibility. They are committed to pursuing excellence through collaboration, which will make them an excellent addition to the HPRC team.”
HPRC will collaborate with the Boston Scientific Sustainability Packaging and Labeling Steering Committee to explore ways to increase the recycling of healthcare plastics. In 2018, Boston Scientific was recognized as a WorldStar Packaging Award Winner, the pre-eminent international award in packaging, for the development of a new package design for Ureteral Stents that eliminated the need for 120,000 pounds of plastic per year, optimized storage, use and post-surgical waste in healthcare facilities and maintained product functionality.
“Within the Boston Scientific global packaging community, there is a goal to drive sustainability in all our packages, whether developing a new product or examining the complete lifecycle,” says Lindsay Smaron, R&D Packaging Engineer at Boston Scientific. “Boston Scientific is looking forward to collaborating with our HPRC peers to support increased use of recycled material, remove barriers, and explore innovative ways to educate the market on the value of healthcare plastics.”
HPRC is engaged in projects aimed at increasing healthcare recycling from all angles, including guidance to educate recyclers on healthcare plastics, a refresh of our popular HospiCycle tool that supports hospitals looking to build or expand their programs, a mixed flexibles recyclability assessment, and a national recycler directory to help facilitate local partnerships. HPRC also recently hosted public roundtables at both CleanMed and the PLASTICS Industry Association’s Re|focus Summit.
About Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council
HPRC is a private technical coalition of industry peers across healthcare, recycling and waste management industries seeking to improve recyclability of plastic products within healthcare. HPRC is made up of brand leading and globally recognized members including Baxter, BD, DuPont, Eastman Chemical Company, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Nelipak Healthcare Packaging, Ravago Recycling Group, Boston Scientific, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. The council convenes biannually at meetings hosted by an HPRC member that regularly include stakeholder engagement events and facility tours to further learning and knowledge sharing opportunities through first-hand demonstration of best practices in sustainable product and packaging design and recycling processes. For more information, visit https://www.hprc.org/ and follow HPRC on LinkedIn.