About Us
Polycarbin was founded in 2020 by two physician scientists in training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Our mission was to divert as many single-use consumables from landfills and incinerators as possible and redirect those resources back into the production of low carbon consumables.
Today, Polycarbin has scaled the only circular economy in the life science industry servicing the entire United States, Canada, and selling products throughout the Eurpean Union.
What is the “Circular Economy” and why is it important?
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation defines the circular economy as a systematic approach designed to eliminate waste, recirculate products and materials at their highest value, and regenerate nature. At Polycarbin, we believe true circularity establishes a link between producers and consumers, creating a community committed to responsible resource stewardship that maximizes its use-cycles.
How is Polycarbin’s Circular Solution Different?
A circular economy is conceptually very different from traditional 'recycling' or 'downcycling.' These systems involve shifting materials from one industry to another, where the resource either can't or won't be recycled again.
Some recyclers transform high turnover items like pipette tip boxes into low turnover items like trash cans or benches. Not only does the imbalance in volume of these two products create an imbalance between supply and demand, the downcycled plastic either can't, or won't, be recycled again, thereby limiting it to one reuse cycle.
A circular economy is focused on recirculating materials so that they can be remanufactured and re-used, time and time again.
Polycarbin remanufactures laboratory products into the next generation laboratory consumables ensuring a balanced equation between resource supply and demand and, most importantly, compounding the environmental benefit through virtually limitless use-cycles.
Where to start?
Customers throughout the contiguous United States can find Polycarbin’s products and mailback services on VWR or Thermo Fisher catalogues. We also service customers directly through our aggregation hubs in Northern California, Southern California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Our two headquarters are located in Richmond, CA and Hanover, MA.
West Coast Facility
1001 Canal Blvd
Suite A
Richmond, CA 94804
East Coast Facility
285 Circuit Street
Building D
Hanover, MA 02339
