BD and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego Announce Innovative Pilot Project to Reduce Environmental Impact of Sharps Disposal

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. and SAN DIEGO, Jan. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego today announced that they have implemented an innovative pilot program at the Hospital that is designed to safely divert a significant percentage of BD sharps waste from landfills and utilize the recycled materials.

Single-use, disposable medical devices such as needles and syringes provide clear clinical and public health benefits, including protecting patients and healthcare workers from the spread of infections. However, disposal of these devices may create unintended environmental concerns, and unnecessary costs. BD is committed to seeking innovative sustainability solutions to address the environmental impact of disposal without compromising patient care. One approach BD is exploring to manage its disposable medical device products is a comprehensive "cradle to cradle" program, addressing every stage of a product's lifecycle. This entails recycling waste materials and utilizing them to manufacture new products rather than permanently disposing of them in a landfill.

"The connections between human health and a healthy environment are inseparable. BD is committed to reducing our environmental impacts and supporting our customers and suppliers to do the same," said Bill Kozy, Executive Vice President, BD. "Rady Children's Hospital shares our commitment to sustainability, and we commend it for its leadership in participating in this important pilot program."

"This environmentally-friendly solution to disposing of sharps wastes falls perfectly in line with our hospital initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle," said Randy Veenstra, Green Team leader at Rady Children's.  "We estimate that, thanks to this program, 38,000 pounds of sharps waste that might have been sent to a landfill will be recycled."

Based on initial tests, BD believes that more than 70% of its overall sharps waste may ultimately be recovered and recycled for use in new products. This novel pilot program, developed in collaboration with Waste Management (WM), the largest waste management and recycling company in North America, uses BD Sharps Containers as natural, convenient aggregation points for the collection of sharps waste. Waste Management collects filled sharps containers at the hospital, transports the material to a nearby WM facility, safely treats it to eliminate any potential biohazard and sends it to a local recycling company for raw material recovery. BD then incorporates these post-hospital recycled materials, along with recycled materials from other sources, into the making of new BD Recykleen™ container products.  BD plans to sell excess recycled materials that cannot be used in BD products to other recyclers.

This product stewardship program builds upon BD's sustainability commitment, which has been recognized for achievements in environmental stewardship.  In Newsweek's 2010 "Green Rankings" of the 500 largest U.S. corporations, BD ranked 2nd in the Healthcare sector and 24th overall.  Additionally, BD has been a component of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and DJSI North America for five and six consecutive years, respectively. Inclusion in DJSI World puts BD in the top 10 percent of companies in the healthcare sector assessed for sustainability leadership.  BD was one of only ten organizations nationwide to receive a 2010 Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Green Power Purchase category.  BD's worldwide headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ, and three of the Company's U.S. manufacturing sites are offsetting 100 percent of their electricity use with renewable energy through green power purchases and renewable energy credits (RECs), placing BD at #20 on the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership's National Top 50 list.

To learn more about BD's commitment to environmental stewardship, please visit http://www.bd.com/sustainability.

About BD

BD, a leading global medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents, is dedicated to improving people's health throughout the world.  BD is focused on improving drug therapy, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases, and advancing research and discovery of new drugs and vaccines.  The Company's capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world's most pressing diseases.  Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, BD employs approximately 29,000 associates in more than 50 countries throughout the world.  The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public.  For more information, please visit www.bd.com.

About Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego

Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, the largest children's hospital in California, is a 442-bed pediatric care facility providing the largest source of comprehensive pediatric medical services in San Diego, Southern Riverside and Imperial counties. Rady Children's is the only hospital in the San Diego area dedicated exclusively to pediatric healthcare and is the region's only designated pediatric trauma center. On October 10, 2010, Rady Children's opened the Acute Care Pavilion, a LEED-Certified (green) building that is home to the incredible new Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, the state-of-the-art Warren Family Surgical Center, and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for our community's most fragile newborns.  In 2001, Rady Children's formed an affiliation agreement with the University of California-San Diego to unify pediatric patient care, research, education, and community service programs on the Rady Children's campus.  In August 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranked Rady Children's among the nation's best in five pediatric specialties.  For more information, visit www.rchsd.org.

SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)