The strategic partnership aims to reduce
landfill waste by recycling mixed plastics from medical implants
and devices and turning them into the building blocks for new,
circular plastics
WARSAW, Ind. , July 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Brightmark LLC, a circular
innovations company with a mission to Reimagine Waste®, announced
today its strategic partnership with Lewis
Salvage, an independently-owned recycling company based in
Warsaw, Indiana, a location with
the world's highest concentration of orthopedic design and
manufacturing companies. By participating in Lewis Salvage's Minimized Landfill Recycling
Program, the Brightmark® Circularity Center in Ashley, Indiana, will receive plastics for
recycling from medical device companies, orthopedic implant
manufacturers, and packaging companies that were originally bound
for landfills and incinerators. Year to date, Brightmark has been
able to recycle approximately 400,000 pounds of plastic waste as a
result of this strategic partnership.
"We're proud to play an important role in reducing the amount of
healthcare plastic waste going to landfills, and our strategic
partnership with Lewis Salvage is a
significant step towards achieving this goal," said Bob Powell, Founder and CEO of Brightmark. "Our
Plastics Renewal® technology provides a crucial solution for
recycling essential plastics at the end of their useful lifecycle,
which assists vital sectors such as the healthcare, agriculture,
manufacturing, and transportation industries by providing a viable
recycling solution that helps them achieve their sustainability
goals and reduce their environmental footprints."
The United States produces 6
million tons of medical waste annually—with plastics accounting for
about 25% of this total. The vast majority of this waste ends up in
landfills or natural environments without adequate infrastructure
to recycle it. Nevertheless, plastic plays a vital role in the
healthcare industry.
"We have witnessed immense growth within the orthopedic
manufacturing industry during our family's 100-year history in
Northern Indiana," Cary Lewis, Owner & CEO of Lewis Salvage, said. "And we've seen that
manufacturers are increasingly looking for ways to make the entire
lifecycle of their products more sustainable and recycling
processes more efficient. That's why we're so excited about our
collaboration with Brightmark. We will be able to turn more types
of plastic into circular products and beneficially reuse difficult
to recycle materials."
"Plastic is crucial for patient safety, but the sheer volume of
single-use medical waste is a growing environmental concern," says
Peylina Chu, Executive Director of the Healthcare Plastics
Recycling Council. "The amount of healthcare plastic produced
annually is projected to increase to 48 billion pounds by 2025.
It's imperative that we find sustainable solutions to manage and
recycle this valuable resource."
Brightmark's circularity centers complement the existing
mechanical recycling system, providing a circular solution that
benefits communities with recycling infrastructure challenges.
This news follows Brightmark's announcement to invest
$950 million in a new plastics
circularity center in Thomaston,
Georgia. The investment is expected to create nearly 200
advanced manufacturing jobs, enhance the regional recycling
infrastructure, and stimulate economic growth and development in
rural West Central Georgia.
About Brightmark
Brightmark LLC is a circular innovation company with a mission
to Reimagine Waste, developing solutions that make a positive
environmental impact on the world and communities where it
operates. Brightmark's established anaerobic digestion and
proprietary Plastics Renewal® technologies make the company a
veteran in a burgeoning marketplace. The company works across
sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and
transportation, to decarbonize operations, displace reliance on
virgin fossil fuels, and solve circularity challenges at scale.
Committed to systems change in waste, Brightmark works
collaboratively to address gaps where traditional methods fall
short through its innovative closed-loop approach to recycling and
renewables. To date, Brightmark has repurposed over four million
pounds of landfill-bound plastics and reduced more than one million
tons of CO2eq from the atmosphere through anaerobic digestion. The
company is also deeply committed to conservation, education, and
sustainability career training by partnering with local and
national organizations that help protect land and oceans. For more
information, visit www.brightmark.com.
About Lewis Salvage
Lewis Salvage is a
fourth-generation recycling company established in the early 1900s
in Warsaw, Indiana. The company's
operations encompass the purchase of scrap metals from the public
and the provision of recycling services to local manufacturers.
Lewis Salvage has also developed
zero waste and specialized destruction recycling services,
particularly catering to the orthopedic industry. Annually, the
company recycles between 60 and 70 million pounds of material from
all its customers. The company's long-standing tradition in the
recycling industry, initiated by Abe Magazine and continued by
Elmer Lewis and Mike Lewis, underscores its commitment to
environmental sustainability. Cary purchased the business in 2023
from his parents, Mike and Rita
Lewis.
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SOURCE Brightmark LLC