Is your metal recycling program having enough impact on your business and community? Recycling programs with Garfield Refining are built to drive sustainability and social impact through operational efficiencies and targeted metal capture. Best practices for recycling post-cremation metal are still evolving in the death care industry. Many crematories have questions about ethical recycling, local and state regulations, and evaluating recycling partners to find the best fit. Garfield works with crematories to build recycling programs that positively impact both business operations and local communities. Focusing on impact has been core to Garfield’s culture since it was founded in a small building in Center City Philadelphia, more than 130 years ago. Now operating a refinery with more than 12,000 square feet of stateof-the-art equipment, Garfield has a global reach and over one million clients. It’s come a long way from being the local refiner of choice for Philadelphia’s Jeweler’s Row and making silverware! The secret to Garfield’s sustained success is its commitment to its core values: sustainability, customer focus, and giving back to its community. Developing a recycling program focused on impact starts with collection efforts at the crematory. To be truly sustainable, a recycling program should identify as much metal during processing as possible. Every ounce of metal recycled with Garfield is an ounce that does not have to be mined; instead, gold, silver, palladium, and platinum are repurposed through Garfield’s conflict-free and responsible supply chain. Garfield helps crematories focus on small metals, like gold and palladium, in dental material. Through training and equipment improvements, many crematories that start working with Garfield see three-to-four times as much metal captured and greatly enhance the impact of their recycling program. Once a crematory has optimized collection, Garfield leverages its expertise to capture as much value from the recycled metal as possible. Value from the metal is then returned to crematory operations or funneled through Garfield’s direct donation program, through which crematories donate directly to charities or trade groups. For example, Garfield works with the Funeral Service Foundation, the charitable arm of NFDA. The Arizona Foundation for Children, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have received hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last few years, thanks to the generosity of crematories working with Garfield’s direct donation program. Garfield’s pacemaker recycling program is another way recycling programs can create an impact. Crematories or funeral homes send recovered pacemakers to Garfield’s facility so they can be reused in countries where treatment would otherwise be cost-prohibitive. A team of experts refurbishes those pacemakers through the University of Michigan’s My Heart Your Heart Project. Instead of going to waste, these pacemakers go to individuals with heart conditions in developing countries. Just this year, Garfield customers have donated over 650 pounds of pacemakers. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 Helps Crematories Develop Recycling Programs Focused on Impact Pub. 1 Issue 4, 2022 19
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