Cytiva and TerraCycle launch recycling filtration device in UK

Global life sciences company Cytiva and international recycling firm TerraCycle has expanded their filtration device recycling programme globally, including to the UK. 

UK customers in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, municipal water, and bioethanol industries can recycle their Whatman and Pall Life Sciences filtration devices. The programme originally launched in the U.S and has also expanded to Germany, the Netherlands, France, Canada and Australia. 

Ryan Walker, Programme Director, Sustainability, Cytiva, said: “The global expansion of our collaboration with TerraCycle demonstrates our commitment to recycling single use plastics across industries and regions. It’s part of how we are adding circularity into our product life cycle. We will continue looking for ways to offer our customers sustainable business solutions.”

The programme uses TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box solution to recycle the waste. TerraCycle says it created the Zero Waste Boxto provide recycling solutions for difficult-to-recycle materials that are not accepted by standard kerbside recycling programmes. 

To have their filtration devices recycled, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, municipal water and bioethanol professionals in the UK can find out if they are eligible by visiting the Cytiva Recycling Programme Page.  If eligible they will receive a free Zero Waste Box to recycle the waste. 

Each Zero Waste Box holds roughly 16kg of waste or 5,000 syringe filters. The companies say customers can also recycle a mixture of Whatman and Pall Life Sciences filtration devices, polypropylene syringes, and polypropylene conical tubes with no metal or rubber components. Once collected, the used filtration devices are processed into recycled material such as outdoor furniture, fibers for clothing and industrial materials.

Tom Szaky, CEO and Founder, TerraCycle, says: “As a first of its kind initiative, Cytiva’s customers now have the opportunity to not only take care of others but the planet as well.”