Athens, OH,
12
April
2022
|
14:00 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Recycling Effort Diverts Seven Tons of Material From Landfill During OhioHealth Clinic Move

Thanks to a joint effort by OhioHealth, Rural Action, Goodwill Industries, and Ohio University’s Campus Recycling, seven tons of material that might have ended up in a landfill during a recent OhioHealth medical office move has been recycled, upcycled, and reused.

Furniture from the clinic was sent to area thrift stores, plastics and scrap metal are being recycled, and more than a ton of medical equipment – including scales and infant exam tables – was sent to MedWish in Cleveland.

“That represents more than 93% of the materials that were collected,” says Rural Action Zero Waste Director Ed Newman. “This is another reason the Reuse Corridor is so important to our region. We’re working with  local partners who can recycle  things like mattresses and electronics instead of sending these materials to the landfill. That not only reduces the carbon footprint of these efforts, it creates local economic opportunities from processing the materials.”

“We are extremely proud of this accomplishment,” said LeeAnn Lucas-Helber, president of OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital. “We are grateful to Rural Action for their continued partnership on sustainability initiatives with OhioHealth.

“All hospitals and medical clinics manage a large amount of waste, but we are committed to delivering care while reducing our environmental footprint. We’ve made considerable progress with the help of Rural Action over the past six years.”

OhioHealth’s O’Bleness Hospital took Rural Action’s Zero Waste Pledge in 2016 when the two organizations worked together to implement a campus-wide recycling program.

“This move-out went really well,” says Maria Bonner, Rural Action’s Zero Waste Manager. “OhioHealth had a great system for getting all the material out of the building, and Campus Recycling was amazing. Instead of us hauling some of this material to our scrap dumpster, we took it to theirs, which was much closer, saving gas and further cutting the carbon footprint of the move.”

The Reuse Corridor connects communities throughout the region to create more opportunities to recycle and upcycle  materials locally. This helps to create the scale that is necessary for small local businesses to process items in a way that’s profitable. For more information about the Reuse Corridor, recycling, and how your business can strive to be Zero Waste, contact Rural Action at info@ruralaction.org.

About OhioHealth

Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church. 

Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area.  It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 14 times since 2007.

OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com. 

About Rural Action

Rural Action is a regional community development organization with a 32-county footprint working with members and community leaders on a range of quality of life, environmental, and economic projects across rural Appalachian Ohio. Its mission is to build a more just economy by developing the region’s assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways. Learn more about Rural Action at www.ruralaction.org