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Houston Methodist and Westlake Launch Pilot Program to Recycle PVC Materials

By: Westlake Corporation via Business Wire

September 04, 2024 at 09:00 AM EDT

First-of-its-kind collaboration in Houston will reprocess items into consumer products

Westlake Global Compounds and Westlake Dimex, business units of Westlake Corporation (NYSE: WLK), today announced the launch of “Choose Pink,” a pilot polyvinyl chloride (PVC) recycling program with Houston Methodist. The program is the first-of-its-kind at a health care system in Houston and will take place at the Outpatient Center (OPC) at Houston Methodist Hospital, the hospital’s flagship location in the Texas Medical Center.

The Choose Pink pilot recycling program will establish a collection system for post-patient, PVC items such as nasal cannulas and masks; oxygen tubing; and saline bags from outpatient procedures, items traditionally disposed of in the hospital setting. These items will be collected in designated hampers and bags to contain the recycled waste, which will eliminate the need for further material sorting in this program. Bags will be collected and placed into containers and transported to a Houston Methodist warehouse to be loaded onto a semi-trailer that, once filled, will be transported to Westlake Dimex’s facility in Marietta, Ohio for recycling.

“This pilot PVC recycling program is an opportunity for our clinical technicians to divert a substantial amount of material from landfills and into a system where these items may be reformatted for other use,” said Jason Fischer, director of the office of sustainability, Houston Methodist. “At our core, Houston Methodist strives to help people live longer, healthier and happier lives. That commitment, combined with our culture of innovation, extends to the stewardship of our environment. We look forward to this recycling collection system augmenting our ongoing sustainability efforts.”

PVC is a versatile material that is primarily used in long-term goods. For more than 70 years, PVC medical devices have allowed patients and health care professionals to access a range of health care applications for screening, diagnosis, treatment and care. By collecting and recycling single-use healthcare applications, there is opportunity to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint and prevent sending waste to landfills.

“Westlake is pleased to collaborate with Houston Methodist for this unique opportunity to collect post-patient PVC materials from outpatient procedures and reprocess them into durable consumer goods,” said Andy Antil, general manager of Westlake Dimex, a compounder of recycled polymers. “Once a truckload of the Choose Pink PVC is collected, it will be transported to Westlake Dimex where the material will be weighed, reground, reused and processed into new products such as commercial and retail runner matting, exercise equipment matting, dock edging, and cord protection products.”

Houston Methodist will be the first health care facility to launch a PVC recycling program in the Houston area. Other programs have successfully been launched for PVC medical devices in other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Belgium, Guatemala and the United Kingdom. A PVC medical device recycling program has been underway in Toronto, Canada since 2020, and other programs have recently launched in Atlanta, Chicago and Rochester, New York. According to the Vinyl Institute, 1.1 billion pounds of vinyl is recycled annually in North America, reducing the carbon footprint and preventing waste from entering landfills.

Based on the more than 100 million pounds’ capacity of plastic recycled materials Westlake Dimex processes annually, the Marietta, Ohio-based company is one of the largest processors of post-industrial resins in the U.S. The recycled material collected from Houston Methodist will be reprocessed into consumer and industrial products such as business and home office chair matting; garden edging; profile products for the marine (dock edging), masonry construction (control joints), and electrical cord and cable management (cord protectors); industrial vinyl and rubber runner matting; as well as household mats for all parts of the home.

About Westlake

Westlake acquired Westlake Dimex in September 2021 as part of its commitment to sustainability and organized it within its Westlake Global Compounds integrated business. Westlake Global Compounds’ flexible and rigid vinyl compounds are used in a variety of healthcare products including renal tubing and dialysis kits; infusion and perfusion tubing and IV accessories; respiratory tubing and masks; biotech reproduction cannulas; medical containers and bottles; blood storage; and urology catheters. Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer and supplier of materials and innovative products that enhance life every day. Headquartered in Houston, with operations in Asia, Europe and North America, we provide the building blocks for vital solutions — from housing and construction, to packaging and healthcare, to automotive and consumer. For more information, visit the company’s web site at www.westlake.com.

About Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers. The health system consists of eight hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the Texas Medical Center, six community hospitals and one long-term acute care hospital throughout the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Houston Methodist also includes a research institute; a comprehensive residency program; international patient services; freestanding comprehensive care, emergency care and imaging centers; and outpatient facilities. Houston Methodist employs more than 32,000 people and had more than 2.1 million outpatient visits and more than 141,000 admissions in 2022. For more information on Houston Methodist, see houstonmethodist.org.