CORE Recycling Service: What it is & Why Labs Are Upgrading – Polycarbin

Polycarbin’s CORE Recycling Service: What it is & Why Labs Are Upgrading

by Team Polycarbin

The life science and pharmaceutical industries rely heavily on single-use plastics for good reason. But the environmental cost is real. Every day, labs generate plastic waste that too often ends up in landfills or incinerators, contributing to climate impact and conferring real costs.

Polycarbin’s CORE Recycling Services help labs take responsibility for that waste, without adding operational burden. CORE is a closed-loop recycling system designed for scale: less handling, fewer shipments, lower costs, and measurable sustainability gains.

Many labs start with Polycarbin’s Closed-Loop mailback program. But as volumes grow and sustainability goals become more urgent, CORE offers a smarter, more efficient, and extremely cost-effective path forward.

The Benefits of CORE 

Instead of ordering and returning individual mailback carbins every month, CORE gives labs a permanent setup:

  • Carbins stay in the lab

  • Full liners get consolidated into a larger unit (typically a Gaylord box on a pallet)

  • A scheduled pickup removes everything in bulk.

One Gaylord holds 20 to 24 times the contents of a single bin. That means fewer shipments, less handling, and more recycling with less effort. Most importantly, CORE is the most cost-effective alternative to landfill.

As Thomas O’Brien, a regional manager at Polycarbin, explains: “You don’t have to keep replacing boxes or carrying them to the dock. People don’t always think that’s a pain point, but they feel the difference when it’s gone.”

Why Labs Are Making the Switch to CORE

In regions like Northern California and Boston, where CORE has been available from the outset, many labs adopt it as their starting point. In other areas such as New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, labs often begin with mailback before transitioning to CORE.

What drives that shift? Cost and efficiency.

“The volumes speak for themselves,” Thomas says. “If someone’s going through 20 masterpacks a month and spending thousands on mailback, we can usually save them money by switching them to CORE. And it’s smoother for their team.”

By consolidating pickups and streamlining logistics, CORE provides labs with the most cost-effective alternative to landfills, while empowering them to align their mission with their impact. It’s a smarter solution for labs that want to reduce costs, lower their carbon footprint, simplify operations, and advance their sustainability goals.

CORE is Not Complicated

One of the biggest misconceptions about the CORE service is that it’s hard to implement. But it’s not. As with any of their services, Polycarbin helps labs navigate everything: where to place the Gaylord, how many bins are needed, and who is responsible for moving liners or scheduling pickups.

“It sounds like a big change, but it actually simplifies things,” says Thomas. “It’s just figuring out a few logistics upfront, and then it reduces the work.”

The service is available anywhere in the US and Canada. Even without a logistics hub in every state, Polycarbin can schedule contracted trucks to handle pickups efficiently. In the Northeast, for example, pickups are routed through Polycarbin’s Massachusetts operations, close enough to cover a wide area without delay.

What Labs Get from CORE

  • Fewer disruptions: No more frequent reordering or shipping bins.

  • Lower costs at scale: Bulk pickups bring the price down, making it the cheapest alternative to landfills.

  • Real-time tracking: All metrics show up in the Carbin Counter™ dashboard.

  • Reliable impact:

    • Over 1,000 pounds of material recycled per month.

    • Over 4,000 pounds of CO₂ emissions avoided.

    • Over 1,000 pounds of fossil fuels displaced.

Why Some Labs Wait & Why They Don’t Need To

When labs hesitate to move to CORE, it’s rarely about the numbers. It’s usually about change.

“If something’s working, people get nervous about switching it, even if we’re showing them real savings,” says Thomas. “And sometimes it’s just questions like: Where do we put the Gaylord? Who’s in charge of moving things around? Those are the real sticking points.”

Polycarbin helps labs solve those questions early, providing a white glove solution end-to-end. Volume concerns are addressed through flexible schedules. Role clarity and bin placement are handled through onsite visits and team walk-throughs. The process is designed to feel manageable from day one.

Sustainability That Scales With You

Switching to CORE isn’t just about making operations smoother. It’s a step toward aligning your lab’s daily work with the future we all want to build. Labs can lead by example, showing that sustainability and science don’t have to be at odds.

When the tools exist to recycle more, reduce emissions, and simplify your process all at once, the next step becomes clear.

Reach out today to learn how Polycarbin’s CORE Service makes sustainable attainable, at scale.

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