Medline turns green to reduce expenses
By HME News Staff
Updated Sat December 31, 2005
MUNDELEIN, Ill. - If you've ever wondered if recycling and weatherproofing could save your company money, just ask Medline, the nation's largest privately owned manufacturer and distributor of medical equipment.
Over the past year, by implementing a host of environmentally friendly practices, Medline saved more than $250,000 and reduced greenhouse emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 1.7 million pounds, the company recently stated.
"Today, being efficient in how you use energy helps us keep our costs down and helps us keep our product prices lower to our customers. It's all connected," said Chief Operating Officer Jim Abrams.
Some of ways the company has saved money and energy include the following:
Retrofitted its warehouses, manufacturing, production and packaging areas with new high output T5 light fixtures and lamps with on/off auto sensors. This reduced the demand for electricity and added more light for employees, increasing productivity and safety; install light sensors in all unswitched offices, closets and restrooms to conserve energy at HQ.
Recycle all the plastic parts that do not pass quality assurance. The parts are reground and sold back to the market.
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