1,500 pounds of recycled plastic brings 3 new benches to Carilion's campus!

Three teams have been working very hard to keep soft plastics from being thrown away and sent to Virginia landfills! The Infusion Center and Gynecologic Oncology Clinic, CRMH OR Services 4th Floor Preop, and CRCH Outpatient Surgery each recycled 500 pounds of soft plastics through the Trex Soft Plastics Recycling program. Soft plastic waste consists of supply packaging, bubble wrap, plastic bed and linen covers, plastic bags, and more. Rather than simply throwing this away, these teams worked together to place it into a separate bin for recycling. Dedicated champions routinely monitored collections to ensure that no non-recyclable items were being disposed of in the container, weighed the bag when full, and transported to the pickup location for recycling.

Once 500 pounds was recycled, they became eligible for a bench made from the recycled plastic. Each team chose to place their bench on Carilion's campus so that it can be enjoyed by patients, visitors, staff and community members.

Thank you to these three teams for your commitment to and collaboration around recycling! Additional thanks to Carilion Clinic Design, Engineering & Maintenance, and Property Maintenance for making this project a success.

If you have any questions about this program, please reach out to Marina Sotelo, Efficiency & Sustainability Coordinator (mcsotelo@carilionclinic.org).