Leading international PPE firm Globus Group has created an innovative sustainable solution for personal protective equipment waste by recycling off-cuts from mask production into cleaning materials for hospitals.
The company, the biggest British PPE manufacturer, is already keeping hundreds of thousands of NHS professionals safe as they lead the fight against the Covid pandemic. Now it is has come up with an ingenious way of using by-products of manufacturing to help maintain vital hospital hygiene.
The UK-based business, which has more than 25 years of heritage in PPE, reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability on Global Recycling Day today (March 17th) as it announced a partnership with Spill Defence Manufacturing Ltd to turn scrap material from respirator manufacturing into absorbent, disposable mop heads or ‘socks’.
The innovation means more than 40,000 kgs of PPE offcuts are now being recycled each month from production at the Group’s three Alpha Solway factories in Golborne, North West England and Dumfries and Annan in Scotland. This will double over the next few months as Spill Defence increases output.
The cleaning products are distributed to hospitals around the UK and used to keep operating theatres clean and hygienic. The PPE off-cuts can also be recycled into spill kits and booms used across a wide range of industries.
This is the latest development by Globus Group as part of its ongoing pledge to increase environmentally friendly processes, reduce carbon emissions and help dispose of PPE off-cuts sustainably. As Globus continues to look for innovative new ways to reduce the environmental impact of PPE products, it is committed to 75% UK manufacturing which significantly reduces the travel miles of products.
Last summer the company, won contracts with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Scottish Government to ensure frontline NHS staff have high quality PPE throughout the pandemic and beyond.
This triggered a huge recruitment drive, and Globus is on track to hire over 1,000 employees by the end of 2021, making the company the biggest British PPE employer as well as the biggest British-based PPE manufacturer.
At full capacity, Globus Group will produce one billion medical masks and 300 million FFP respirators per annum.
Alpha Solway Director Steven Binnie said:
“Unprecedented demand for protective equipment for healthcare sectors since the start of the pandemic, has really accelerated our UK-production of respiratory PPE. Inevitably this has resulted in a large amount of PPE off-cuts at our factories which we have been determined to use sustainably. We’re very pleased that the offcuts can be recycled with a real purpose that further supports the NHS.
“Thanks to Spill Defence, we’re able to create a sustainable solution to further help hospitals during the fight against Covid-19. We’re passionate about continuing to create and develop sustainable solutions across the business.”
Spill Defence Manufacturing Ltd Director Richard Smith added:
“We at SDM are very happy to be part of the joint venture of the sustainability program with Alpha Solway. It fits in perfectly with our ethos of recycling production waste into spill absorption products. The added beauty is that it is all UK produced.”