Stericycle® Wins 2011 Waste Reduction Award From Nation's Leading State Authority on Recycling, Waste Reduction and Product Reuse

LAKE FOREST, Ill., March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Stericycle announced that its priorities to move to a greener footprint by reducing, reusing, and recycling has resulted in receiving the 2011 Waste Reduction Award from the California Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).

The award recognizes Stericycle for meeting waste diversion goals. This activity assists the state in further reducing landfill waste volume, and driving California toward zero-waste.

Stericycle leads the way in diminishing environmental impact internally and to hospitals utilizing its Sustainable Solutions® green services offered to hospitals. These services include the Sharps Management service using Bio Systems reusable containers and the Pharmaceutical Waste Compliance service.

California leads the nation with a 65 percent recycling rate for all materials. Recycling creates more than 140,000 of the state's green jobs. As California's leading authority on recycling, waste reduction, and product reuse, CalRecycle's vision is to inspire and to challenge Californians to achieve the highest rates in the nation.

The long-term results are positive for everyone according to CalRecycle. The amount of waste sent to landfills is reduced, resources are conserved, and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. As Waste Reduction Award winning businesses like Stericycle grow, tax revenue is generated and California jobs are created and sustained, according to CalRecycle.

Winning this award is a tribute to business practices that help more than 2,500 California hospitals and affiliated hospital sites, including doctors' offices, labs and ambulatory care centers. These facilities divert, reuse or recycle healthcare waste, and include:

State legislation is being drafted to require many businesses to implement recycling programs. At 13 Stericycle sites in 2011, nearly 1 million pounds of waste material were reduced including: 408,000 pounds of reusable plastic sharps containers; 84,000 pounds of pallets; 16,000 pounds of cardboard boxes; 43,000 pounds of corrugated cardboard; 429,000 pounds of white paper; and more.

"The healthcare industry has one of the largest carbon footprints of any industry. In addition to Stericycle's practices, tools such as our carbon footprint estimator and Sustainable Solutions® portal allow hospital CEOs to see exactly how they are keeping their communities healthy and their work environments safe in the pursuit of air and water quality commitments," said Dan Ginnetti, area vice president for Stericycle. "In addition to Stericycle reducing, reusing and recycling, we are committed to helping healthcare leaders meet their sustainability goals and stay compliant when managing their different waste streams," noted Ginnetti.

About Stericycle

Lake Forest, IL-based Stericycle is a leader in healthcare-related services that protect people and reduce risk. With more than 552,000 customers worldwide, Stericycle has operations in North America, Europe, Latin America and Japan. Visit www.stericycle.com.

Contact
Kellee Johnson, The Ballast Group, 312-751-3959 or [email protected].

SOURCE Stericycle