Q: Lab sustainability mandates are getting stricter, but most PPE still ends up in the trash. How can labs turn that waste stream into documented landfill-diversion credit?
Labs are already paying to send PPE to landfill. Disposal fees vary by state, but across a year of single-use gloves, apparel, and eyewear, they add up. That same spend, redirected, could be used to turn trash into a valued material that can be diverted out of landfill. With extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation advancing across several states, diverting used PPE out of landfill is becoming less optional.
A: Ansell's RightCycle program provides responsible recycling and documented ESG data, giving every participant a self-serve portal showing exactly what their site has recycled by weight, by material, over any time period.
Participants can log into WasteBits, an online recycling tracking platform, and pull site-level metrics to feed directly into ESG reports. Ansell issues a formal annual certificate to every participant regardless of volume; one university lab qualified with five pounds recycled across an entire year.
Collected non-hazardous PPE (gloves, masks, apparel, and safety glasses) is tracked via a unique RC number, shipped to certified recycling partners, and converted into plastic pellets that enter manufacturing as Adirondack chairs, shelving, and storage bins. Ansell operates on three pillars—responsibility, affordability, and transparency—and backs the last one with an open invitation: customers can visit recycling partners and watch their PPE being processed firsthand.
