If You’re Committed to Sustainability, Is Your Waste Management Partner?
Health care organizations across the country are working diligently to lessen their environmental impacts. Over the course of several articles, we’ve demonstrated why making this type of pledge is both the right thing to do and a cost-effective choice. Because an organization-wide commitment is most comprehensive for health care entities to achieve their sustainability goals, it’s best to partner with a waste management vendor with environmentally-friendly practices. Not only should this partner offer the latest tools, training and equipment to assist organizations with their sustainability efforts, it should demonstrate a commitment to a green approach within its own operations.
Below are just a few ways we limit our impact and pursue innovations that help our partners meet their sustainability objectives.
Efficient, Safe, Sustainable and Complaint Regulated Waste Removal
Safe and compliant transportation of regulated waste streams is integral to our partnerships. Our logistics experts, mindful of the environment, are always seeking opportunities to bring new technologies and design advancements to our fleet that improve routing to lower fuel consumption while still ensuring on-time service. We continuously replace older, less fuel-efficient trucks throughout the fleet, swapping out 12%-15% each year with newer, more eco-friendly models. We’ve conducted a small pilot using cargo vans to service locations in small, condensed areas in California. The vans meet Department of Transportation (DOT) registration requirements for hazardous waste collection and are substantially smaller and more fuel efficient than our standard trucks. The pilot was successful, so we’ve incorporated more DOT compliant cargo vans estimating this program will reduce overall fuel consumption by 105,000 gallons and drop CO2 emissions by an estimated 1,100 tons this year. To further limit air pollution, we have cut idle times in Stericycle vehicles, which are designed to automatically shut off after five minutes without movement.
Committed to Conservation
Throughout all of our operations, we strive to conserve resources. For example, at some of our waste treatment facilities, we have:
- Converted to motion-sensing LED lighting systems
- Employed energy recovery coils to reuse heat from autoclave steam exhaust
- Recovered heat energy from incineration through steam turbines
- Produced steam energy while washing customer collection containers
The above initiatives represent critical work that Stericycle has underway, but only scratches the surface of the many sustainability and social responsibility programs in which we are involved. Learn more about our range of diverse initiatives where our partners can share in our success of sustainability.
