As part of CoxHealth’s ongoing environmental efforts, metals are now among the items being recycled at Cox.
Large bins for metal were added to the waste disposal area at the back of Cox South in September, joining the bins for paper and pallets of cardboard set for recycling.
Dieter Reichmann, plant facilities coordinator in Engineering, says the department is already providing a steady stream of metal with leftover bits and pieces from construction projects throughout the system.
The excess metal comes from large and small projects alike. Reichmann points to a few dozen discarded fluorescent light fixtures sitting near the dock.
“We normally take this to the Dumpster, but if we’re careful we can just take the glass out and put the metal frames in the bin for recycling,” he says.
In addition to metal created by engineering and construction projects, the recycling efforts also include streams from food services (containers for canned food, for example). Soon, containers for aluminum cans will be placed on floors at Cox South.
The metal is being handled by Commercial Metals Company Recycling, a national firm with local offices. CMC picks up the full bins and hauls them away for sorting and processing.
“The good thing is, we don’t have to pay for stripping insulation off of wire and things like that,” Reichmann says. “They do all of that, do a tally at the end of the month and cut us a check.”
With metal recycling in place, efforts are now under way to develop plastic recycling in the near future.
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