EMD Millipore, the life science business of Merck KGaA, has partnered with Triumvirate Environmental, a full-service environmental firm, on a process designed to help reduce the environmental impact of its products across their life cycle and help key customers achieve important sustainability goals.

Based on an agreement completed in April, Triumvirate is now serving as the exclusive recycling vendor for EMD Millipore’s two product recycling programs, which are aimed at reducing waste from single-use disposable products used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and research in the U.S. The company says the process developed by Triumvirate ensures 100% recycling of these products, eliminating the need for traditional disposal methods such as landfill dumping and incineration.

Through the Triumvirate process waste material from single-use products is converted into raw materials for the production of industrial-grade plastic lumber at the firm’s recycling and production facility in Jeannette, PA. Through EMD Millipore’s two product recycling programs, this process is expected to divert 840 tons of waste from landfills or incineration over the next year.

Currently, Triumvirate is facilitating EMD Millipore’s recycling programs for biopharmaceutical customers on the East Coast; eventually its services will be expanded to customers across the U.S.