Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 25th April 2024 Issue no. 1111
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RightCycle offers groundbreaking dispenser and hand towel recycling scheme
Kimberly-Clark Professional has launched The RightCycle Programme for the recycling of old dispensers and used hand towels, supporting UK businesses in their drive to meet zero waste to landfill goals.
Since its groundbreaking launch over 10 years ago, the scheme has diverted over 1,500 tonnes of previously hard-to-recycle, non-hazardous PPE from landfill and incineration. This latest extension to the scheme gives businesses the opportunity to transform the way they dispose of old dispensers and used hand towels for a more sustainable washroom.
Almost three-quarters (73%) of UK businesses say reducing the environmental impact of their hygiene products already guides their decision-making - a factor set to take on even more significance in the future.
As a global, market-leading company, Kimberly-Clark Professional is committed to helping its customers achieve their environmental aspirations, elevating workplaces with the highest sustainability standards.
In what is believed to be a world first, RightCycle offers both a dispenser installation and recycling service giving businesses a hassle-free way to be more sustainable and improve their washroom and wiping facilities.
Kimberly-Clark Professional expert fitters remove, collect and collate an organisation's old dispensers - no matter who the manufacturer is - and install new, hygienic and sustainable dispensers. Working with its recycling partners, the dispenser components including the plastic, cardboard and metal screws are transformed into new raw materials for use in new products such as car parts and children's toys - breathing new life into old dispensers and diverting waste from landfill.
Currently, the majority of used hand towels are just thrown away, now RightCycle offers a more responsible solution with no upfront investment or additional labour needed.
Organisations separate their used hand towels from their general waste at point of use. The Kimberly-Clark Professional recycle partner takes them to an aggregation site for compression and baling. The bales are then transported to mills where the fibres are recycled and used in the manufacture of new tissue products - giving hand towels a second life.
By keeping hand towels in the 'circular economy', RightCycle helps businesses cut their entire waste footprint by up to 25% and increase their building's recycling rate by up to 5% - supporting sustainability goals.
"We work with our customers to divert waste from landfill or incineration,” says James Hallam - global circularity manager, Kimberly-Clark Professional. “The RightCycle Programme is designed to support organisations' sustainability goals and help position them as a company committed to sustainability and their part towards zero waste. Customers can display their green credentials with a Certificate of Environmental Impact Achievement, detailing the difference they have made, (such as plastic weight diverted from landfill or total fibre recycled) this increases employee satisfaction knowing that they work for a company that cares."
The RightCycle Programme for dispensers is open to UK organisations with more than 100 customer-owned dispensers of any category. To be eligible for the hand towel recycling, any UK organisation must be using - or happy to switch to - Kimberly-Clark Professional hand towels.
14th April 2022