Brightmark® Collaborates with Lewis Salvage to Improve Healthcare Plastics Recyclability

News provided by

Jul 30, 2024, 07:00 ET

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.

Medical waste collected by Brightmark as part of its strategic partnership with Lewis Salvage. Photographed by Kristi Gay.

Brightmark Founder and CEO Bob Powell (right) and Lewis Salvage Owner and CEO Cary Lewis (left). Photographed by Kristi Gay.

"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.

SOURCE Brightmark LLC