Cardinal Health says it has made its surgical glove packaging at least 30 percent smaller than competitors’ tall packaging configurations, and used at least 15 percent less cardboard, by folding the gloves in half.
The Triflex powdered surgical gloves and Protexis powder-free surgical gloves are the industry’s only half-folded format, and make Cardinal Health uniquely able to help customers reduce their environmental footprint and minimize waste, the company says.
Cardinal says that individual pouches within the half-fold dispenser boxes are at least 48 percent smaller than competitive products. Over 95 percent of the company’s surgical gloves feature paper-based wrap material, or inner wallets, which are made from renewable resources and are recyclable, the company says.
Cardinal also says it has implemented a number of initiatives to address and improve its surgical glove manufacturing operations in Thailand, including non-hazardous waste recycling, heat recovery and water recycling.
The packaging has received a green leaf icon designation from the Premier healthcare alliance, which identifies environmentally preferred products based on attributes including materials, production, packaging, reusability, energy efficiency and disposal.
Cardinal Health is one of the founders of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, a coalition focused on developing recycling and packaging innovations for medical products. Other founding members include Kimberly-Clark, Johnson & Johnson and Waste Management.