Glove Recycling
We are a glove-recycling program based in the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at the University of British Columbia (UBC CBH).It is estimated that 7 million nitrile gloves are discarded from UBC labs annually. To reduce our impact, we collect and ship glove waste to the following recycling programs:1) Kimberly-Clark RightCycle (accepts Kimberly-Clark gloves only)
2) Vitacore (accepts all brands of gloves)Thank you to all who participated in our glove recycling competition from Oct 2021 - April 2022! Together we recycled over 146kg of gloves and diverted about 48,700 gloves from the landfills! That's about 2000 gloves a week! We are excited to announce that the glove recycling program is becoming a permanent instalment in the Centre for Brain Health!Going forward, gloves can still be recycled at any time (no more specific drop off windows) at the same location (near F128, Koerner Pavilion). We ask that you kindly continue separating out your Kimberly-Clark from non-Kimberly-Clark gloves as they are recycled through separate streams. Also, as Kimberly-Clark recycles our gloves for free, please consider purchasing your gloves through them if you have the opportunity. VWR provides very competitive pricing for Kimberly-Clark brand gloves, if you would like us to get you in touch with VWR for specific quotes, please email our team.
What We Do
Gloves can still be recycled at any time (no more specific drop off windows) near RM F128, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital. Please separate Kimberly-Clark brand gloves from all other brands as they are recycled through separate streams.As Kimberly-Clark recycles our gloves for free, please consider purchasing your gloves through them if you have the opportunity. VWR provides very competitive pricing for Kimberly-Clark brand gloves, if you would like us to get you in touch with VWR for specific quotes, please email our team.
What Gloves Are Accepted
We recycle two types of disposable gloves (nitrile/latex/etc.):1) specifically from Kimberly-Clark (free for us to recycle)
2) all other brands (costs us a fee to recycle)Kimberly-Clark gloves are especially encouraged. Please refer to the section below on how to identify them from other brands.GLOVES MUST NOT BE BIOHAZARDOUS (no blood/tissue contamination)
Kimberly-Clark Glove Types
All Kimberly-Clark and Kimberly-Clark brands (e.g., KimTech) will be recycled directly through Kimberly-Clark at no cost to the Centre (whereas all other brands must be recycled through Vitacore for a substantial fee). Please consider switching your gloves to Kimberly-Clark if you can!
The Team
We are always looking for more volunteers to help with our initiative! Please email us, all welcome!
Melody Salehzadeh, PhD Candidate, Department of Zoology
Melody is a PhD candidate in Dr. Soma's lab. Melody led the Centre for Brain Health Glove Recycling Program after noticing how much plastic waste her experiments were producing. She hopes that our team will spark conversations around waste reduction in labs and motivate the recycling of new materials.
Michelle Jung, MSc Student, Department of Zoology
Michelle is a MSc student in Dr. Soma's lab. She hopes that this initiative will raise awareness about greener lab practices and encourage more scientists to help reduce the environmental impact of their labs.
Anna Mazurenko, Research Assistant, Honours Behavioural Neuroscience
Anna is a member of the Soma lab with a BSc in Honours Behavioural Neuroscience. She wants to help promote sustainable practices in as many aspects of her life as possible and create a wider impact on environmental awareness within her scientific community.
Emma Lam, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Biology
Emma is a member of the Soma Lab and a second year undergraduate student pursuing a major in Biology. She hopes that this initiative will inspire more labs to think critically about sustainability in research and help promote more green initiatives in the future!
Past Members
Taylor Bootsma, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Microbiology & Immunology
Taylor is a member of the Soma Lab and a fourth-year undergraduate student, pursuing a major in Microbiology & Immunology and a minor in Health and Society. She is passionate about the environment and sustainability practices scientists can adapt to make for greener research!
Eashan Halbe, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Biology
Eashan is a member of the Soma Lab and a fourth year undergraduate student in Biology. He has an immense interest in sustainable practices, both in a day-to-day and organizational sense, and hopes that the initiative and its impact will further promote such in the community.
Cindy Shi, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Honours Biology and Computer Science
Cindy is a member of the Soma Lab and a fourth year undergraduate student in Honours Biology and Computer Science. She hope this initiative can help reduce the ecological footprint of DMCBH and create more discussion on sustainable practices in labs.
Contact Us
Email: [email protected]We are always looking for more volunteers for our initiative! Please email us to find out more!
Competition results
Thank you to all who participated in our glove recycling competition from Oct 2021 to Apr 2022! The top 5 teams will receive a prize and have been contacted.
