Kaye: Sustainability should be key for medical-device makers

Published: August 22, 2012 6:00 am ET

Related to this story

Topics Medical, Sustainability

WESTLAKE, OHIO (Aug. 22, 12:45 p.m. ET)  — The health industry has a duty to remove unhealthy practices like pollution, said to Chris Kaye of United States Endoscopy Group Inc. Companies in the medical-devices market, likewise, need to utilize creativity, innovation and sustainable practices in an effort to maintain a policy of good health.

Check out his presentation in this online video.

Kaye, vice president of research and technical innovation, spoke about plastics’ role in sustainable medical products at the recent Plastics in Medical Devices 2012 conference in Westlake.

“We are one of the great polluters,” Kaye said. “We have to change the way we do business.” To do that, he suggests a firm begin by assessing how it functions. Firms need to look at how they handle their suppliers, which materials they are using and how they can improve the processes it uses. Kaye also urged firms to keep their policies transparent.

Mentor, Ohio-based US Endoscopy makes tools that go on the end of endoscopes — devices that snake through the human body’s existing pathways to peer into and operate in things such as stomachs and intestines. Founded in 1991, US Endoscopy has about 400 employees, most of whom are based in Greater Cleveland. The company uses plastics extensively in its products, according to Kaye.

The Plastics News-sponsored conference was held June 11-13.


Comments

Kaye: Sustainability should be key for medical-device makers

Published: August 22, 2012 6:00 am ET

Post Your Comments


Back to story


More stories

Braskem publishes carbon footprint data for its products

May 24, 2013 1:40 pm ET

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — Braskem SA, the leading thermoplastic resin producer in the Americas and world's largest biopolymer producer, staked its...    More

Dow's sustainability manager looks at big picture for package design

May 23, 2013 3:22 pm ET

NEW ORLEANS — You can make a package from recycled material, reduce the weight by 50 percent and ensure that it’s reusable. But...    More

Image

Prime Plastic pursues scrap for recycling

May 23, 2013 3:15 pm ET

VISTA, CALIF. — Prime Plastic Products Inc. is not waiting for recycling sources to show up — it's going to them.    More

Students’ solvent aims to cut landfill volume

May 23, 2013 3:13 pm ET

BOULDER,COLO. -- A patent-pending process designed to help plastic waste decompose within three years in landfills is the idea fueling Inviroment LLC,...    More

Recycler introduces technology to United States

May 23, 2013 3:09 pm ET

SOUTH GATE, CALIF. — This time last year, Verdeco Recycling Inc. didn’t even have equipment up and running at its South Gate, Calif., plan...    More

Upcoming Plastics News Events

June 4, 2013 - June 5, 2013Workforce Solutions West 2013

September 17, 2013 - September 18, 2013Plastics Caps & Closures 2013

November 12, 2013 - November 14, 2013Plastics Building Innovations 2013 Conference

More Events

Market Reports

Recyclers & Brokers and Custom Compounders (Full Ranking and List) 2013

Access data on 224 recyclers including volume, percent reprocessed versus brokered, percent post-consumer versus post-industrial, and materials re-processed, as well as data on 237 compounders including materials processed and compounds manufactured.

Learn more

Thermoformed Packaging 2013 Market Review and Outlook - North America

Plastics News' experts analyze North American thermoformed packaging sector performance and prospects for future growth. View analysis of processors operating within this segment as well as perspectives from industry though leaders on economic and political conditions, market trends, legislative/regulatory activity impacting supply and demand and manufacturing technology.

Learn more