April marks Earth Month, including Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day’s theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” focuses on a commitment for everyone to unite behind renewable energy. At Stericycle, we believe in doing our part to help protect the health and well-being of the people and places around us safely, responsibly, and with sustainability in mind. We deliver essential solutions that can help protect the environment, people, and public health.
At Stericycle, our commitment to the environment lasts all year round. We deliver essential services that protect the public from potentially harmful waste and help the healthcare industry make progress towards sustainability-related goals. Our services can help with safe disposal of medical waste, shred and recover our customers’ confidential documents for the purposes of recycling, encourage reuse of plastics through reusable sharps waste and pharmaceutical waste containers, and treat pharmaceutical waste prior to disposal to help prevent active pharmaceutical ingredients from ending up in waterways.
In celebration of Earth Month, we have planned several sustainability-related initiatives for team members, customers, and communities. The month’s events include a nature walk, seed sharing, a community Shred-it® event in the Chicagoland area, and the distribution of Seal&SendTM consumer medication mail envelopes to our team members in certain offices in the United States.
As part of our commitment to protecting our communities and the environment, Stericycle joins with like-minded organizations, including our collaborations with the National Park Foundation (NPF) and the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF). Our work with ADF is helping to protect and restore critical forest ecosystems through tree planting in the U.S. and Canada. According to estimates provided by the ADF, Stericycle’s reforestation efforts in 2024 are expected to result in the following positive impacts on the environment over approximately the next 40 years:
- Sequestering 17,734 metric tons of CO2*
- Avoiding 2,105,858 gallons of water runoff*
- Removing 89.07 tons of air pollutants*
*According to ADF, estimates calculated using iTree, a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban and rural forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools.
In keeping with this year’s theme of “Our Power, Our Planet,” Stericycle is proud to highlight that we currently operate waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities globally and also use third-party WTE partners. Our WTE facilities generate steam energy from the waste treatment process that can help to either reduce our direct energy requirements or provide energy to nearby businesses.
Visit our Stericycle Corporate Sustainability Update to learn more about our commitment to sustainability.
