Partner Spotlight: MilliporeSigma and Biopharma Recycling

MilliporeSigmaHere at Triumvirate Environmental, we work with our partners in environmental, health, and safety to promote environmental protection and sustainable development. Today, we would like to focus on one of our life sciences partners who has gone above and beyond to put a focus on corporate responsibility and recycling, MilliporeSigma. Read below to learn all about MilliporeSigma, single-use technologies, and their role in biopharma recycling.

MilliporeSigma

MilliporeSigma is part of the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany group, focused in the life sciences part of their business. They have a global reach with over 300,000 products, one million customers in 66 countries, 65 manufacturer sites, and 130 distribution centers. MilliporeSigma provides scientists and engineers with best-in-class lab materials, technologies, and services to help solve the toughest problems in life science by collaborating with the global scientific community. They are dedicated to "making research and biotech production simpler, faster, and safer."

Single-Use Technologies

In the biopharma industry, single-use technologies are rapidly growing. There are a lot of reasons for this increase in popularity, but a few specifics include:

  • Product safety - decreasing the risk of contamination
  • Smaller footprint
  • Reduction in time - overall processing, batch to batch, set up and breakdown
  • Overall cost reduction - smaller, more efficient facilities and less energy and water usage

For all of these reasons, MilliporeSigma provides single-use products to their life sciences customers. However, single-use technologies do come with one major challenge, something that MilliporeSigma has recognized and set out to fix: Increased waste, a lot of it!

Focus on Recycling

To take responsibility of reducing the environmental impacts of their products, MilliporeSigma designed a product recycling program. Their goal is to look at the entire life cycle of their products, including the materials they bring in, where they come from, where they're being sourced, and how they're manufacturing. They constantly look to decrease the amount of packaging and focus on using a variety of distribution options, including not only air, but sea and train as well. MilliporeSigma's product recycling program was eventually formed to come up with a solution for recycling plastic within these single-use products.

Biopharma Single-use Product Recycling Program

MilliporeSigma's single-use product recycling program was set up through an exclusive partnership with Triumvirate Environmental in order to enable bioprocess manufacturing customers to fully recycle all MilliporeSigma single-use and disposable products. The image below outlines some of the features of the program:

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In addition to understanding the program, it's important to know which biopharma products can be recycled. Here is a brief list of some of the common products that are accepted as part of the biopharma single-use product recycling program:

  • Single-use bags, tubing, and connectors
  • Cartridge and capsule filters
  • Clarification and depth filters
  • Empty chemical containers and drums
  • Additional products - a waste assessment helps to reveal more products that can be included

To get started, MilliporeSigma and Triumvirate Environmental go out to each site and assess what they have to see if it's a fit for the program. In addition to MilliporeSigma products, this program also allows competitor or other similar products that fit the qualifications. After the assessment, a quote is given, and the recycling process is started.

Additional Information

Is your company disposing waste via landfill or incineration? Are you trying to improve your waste and recycling goals? If so, your company and products might be a good fit for MilliporeSigma's product recycling program. Click the button below to watch the MilliporeSigma and Triumvirate joint webinar, Sustainability through Biopharma Recycling, to learn more about the program, the recycling process, and considerations for starting a single-use recycling program at your site.

 

Webinar Download:
Sustainability through Biopharma Recycling