Most healthcare systems have a Green Initiative and are making great strides reducing carbon emissions in their daily activities. To a large extent though, many are not looking at what happens on a new facility construction site. CME Corp’s Cindy Juhas recently published an article, “When green sites earn black marks” in Healthcare Purchasing News.
Cindy cited an article from Building Forward that stated “While green building and energy efficiency have been a rallying cry of the construction industry for nearly two decades, the amount of waste that’s produced at construction sites to build these more environmentally friendly structures has only continued to rise, as builders still simply throw out materials on-site that could be recycled or reused.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, t548 million tons of construction and demolition waste were generated in the U.S. in 2015, the latest period for which data is available.
Decreasing cardboard, pallets and other packing materials
CME receives all products at their service centers located across the country. We unpack items prior to delivery and recycle most of the shipping materials. There is a small percentage of equipment that is kept in their original shipping packaging, as those products may have multiple parts that need to stay together or are too delicate to be unpacked in advance.
CME assembles the equipment at our service centers and delivers the new equipment blanket wrapped and protected so they are ready-to-use as soon as they are placed in their final location.
Working with manufacturers on greener delivery solutions
CME works with manufacturers to get them to use more recyclable packing materials and to reduce cardboard when shipping. Some products can be shipped from the manufacturer blanket-wrapped although this is more expensive and more time-consuming for the manufacturer.
Recycling or donating decommissioned equipment
If the construction involves renovating or repurposing space, there could be older, decommissioned equipment involved. CME can help you dispose of the old equipment instead of sending it to the dump where it will add to those carbon emissions. For more information on disposition solutions, read our blog, "How Equipment Disposition Becomes a Profit Generator".
In addition to helping at the construction site, CME can also help you choose greener equipment including refrigeration, PVC alternatives and more. For more information on CME’s Eco-Friendly Solutions, read our eBook, Eco-Friendly Solutions for Building a Green Healthcare Facility.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers.
With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule. For more information, visit www.cmecorp.com.