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Recycling lab gloves

  • 1.  Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-07-2022 11:26 AM

    Hi all,

     

    The Sustainability Team at the Harvard Peabody Museum is investigating the feasibility of recycling our nitrile gloves. Does your institution recycle lab gloves? If so, how does your recycling program work? Are there prohibitions against including contaminated gloves and if so, how do you navigate those? How does your gloves recycling program work logistically? How have you informed and educated staff about the proper recycling of gloves?

     

    Thank you in advance for any info you can share!

     

    -Stu Heebner

     

    Co-chair, Harvard Peabody Museum Sustainability Team

     

    Stuart Heebner

    Collections Assistant

    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University

    11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2019



    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-08-2022 07:47 AM
    Good morning!

    Several of the museums I work for purchase the Vinyl Glove - Zero Waste Boxes  from Terracycle.   We place them in the exhibitions ge prep and collections storage areas, and one near the elevators on each floor when we are doing installations.   The staff know where to find them easily.   When the boxes are full, they are returned to Terracycle.  The trick to getting people in the habit of using the boxes is to make sure they are always in the same expected place.  

    It's an added expense to your budget, but you can get a lot of gloves in the boxes, and worth it, IMO, to keep vinyl out of the landfill.
     
     
    Vinyl Gloves - Zero Waste Box™

    ------------------------------
    Batja Bell
    Independent registrar
    South Orange NJ
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-08-2022 08:08 AM
    Thanks, Batja! Good to know about what worked regarding the placement of the gloves collections boxes. Another big challenge for us is that neither the vendor of our gloves nor TerraCycle will accept any contaminated gloves, i.e., those that have come in to contact ethnographic objects (many of which have been treated with arsenic and other harmful chemicals, sadly).

    -Stu Heebner

    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-09-2022 01:33 PM

    I agree with Batja re: Terracycle.

     

    We procure a mix of biodegradable gloves for certain aspects of our operations as well as nitrile gloves. The non-biodegradable gloves go in the Terracycle box while the "green" ones go in our curbside organic waste bin.

     



    Claudia Pineda Tibbs   (Pronouns: they/them/elle)
    Sustainability Program Manager
    P 831-648-9821      

     

    Monterey Bay Aquarium
    886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940
    www.montereybayaquarium.org
    Our mission is to inspire conservation of the ocean.

     




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-09-2022 03:50 PM
    Thanks, Claudia! Nice to hear the biodegradable option can work for your institution. And great that you folks have greatly reduced gloves from your waste stream!

    -Stu Heebner

    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-08-2022 09:39 AM
    Stuart,

    Have you seen this spreadsheet on different sustainable options for lab gloves?
    https://nemanet.org/files/9914/4009/2048/Green_Museum_Gloves.pdf

    This list seems to have been put together in 2015.

    ------------------------------
    Douglas Flandro
    Exhibit Designer
    Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-08-2022 10:18 AM
    Douglas,
    Thanks for the info sheet! I had not seen it. Good to see all the options.

    This investigation appears to boil down to: is there a means for recycling nitrile gloves that may have been contaminated, for example, through contact with ethnographic objects, many of which have been treated in the past with arsenic and other pesticides? And our gloves vendor and TerraCycle ask that we not include contaminated gloves for recycling.

    Thanks again for your help. Will keep the info sheet for general reference.
    -Stuart

    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-08-2022 10:49 AM
    Hi Stuart:
    You might want to send an inquiry to this group:

    Good luck; interested in hearing the answer to this.   
    And thanks, Douglas, for the information sheet. 

    --

    Batja Bell
    (she/her)
    registration services
    for art, artifacts & exhibitions
    batja.bell@gmail.com
    (office) 973-761-4090
    (mobile/text) 862-205-7029




    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-09-2022 09:30 AM
    Hi Batja,
    Have not seen this link. I'll share it with our Conservation Dept.
    Thank you!
    -Stu

    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-10-2022 11:43 AM
    Hi Stuart-

    We use Kimberly Clark nitrile gloves and are thus eligible to participate in the Kimberly Clark RightCycle Program to recycle used gloves and other PPE.  https://www.kcprofessional.com/en-us/solutions/rightcycle-by-kimberly-clark-professional


    Hope that helps,
    Colleen Carter


    ------------------------------
    Colleen Carter
    DENVER CO
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Recycling lab gloves

    Posted 03-10-2022 02:40 PM
    Thanks, Colleen, for replying!
    Yes, I've contacted Kimberly Clark - the manufacturer of our (nitrile) gloves - and they tell me they won't accept contaminated gloves.  Many of our gloves contact ethnographic objects, and many of those objects have been treated with arsenic, etc. And we don't always know which have been treated and which haven't. So for safety's sake, we assume all ethnographic items may have been treated. TerraCycle also tells us they will NOT accept contaminated gloves. So far, I'm not hearing of anyone who WILL accept contaminated gloves for recycling. I can't in good conscience send contaminated gloves to programs that explicitly prohibit them.
    However, I'm delighted the KC program works for your institution - well done!

    -Stu

    ------------------------------
    Stuart Heebner
    Collections Assistant
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
    Cambridge MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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