Enloe sharpens recycling efforts

Enloe Medical Center recently switched to a reusable-sharps-container program that will allow the hospital to divert an estimated 33,320 pounds of plastic and 2,574 pounds of cardboard from landfills over the next 12 months, according to a hospital press release.

The Stericycle Sharps Management Service collects containers holding medical needles and other sharp instruments and takes them to a facility where they are emptied, sanitized and inspected before being returned to the hospital. The change is estimated to eliminate more than 19,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere throughout the next year.