THE DESIRE TO LESSEN

OUR IMPACT IS INGRAINED

IN OUR CULTURE

Our Relationship with the World

Our mission is to improve the lives of people, families, and communities around the world. We believe a significant part of caring for people is also being conscious of our environmental footprint. At Merit, we strive to deliver high-quality products that minimize our global impact throughout each step, from materials selection and manufacturing to packaging, shipping, recycling, and disposal. By tracking our sustainability efforts, we create space to introduce technology and best practices that help us to further conserve resources, decrease waste, and reduce emissions.

Programs to Reduce Waste

INTRA-MERIT SHIPPING

Millions of products travel between Merit manufacturing and distribution facilities. For this intra-Merit travel, we’ve transitioned entirely to reusable pallets and innovated methods to move products in bulk containers, significantly reducing intra-Merit shipping materials.

MERIT SMART SHIPPING™

To significantly reduce shipping materials, Merit has designed packaging that allows a product to ship to customers in its original packaging, eliminating the need for additional shipping materials, such as boxes and plastic bubble wrap. This program currently saves 72 tons of brown corrugated box material per year (January 2019). Learn more →

SCRAPE YOUR PLATE PROGRAM

To reduce the amount of food waste sent to landfills, Merit Salt Lake City started the Scrape Your Plate program in November 2019. By partnering with a company that processes food waste, Merit Café scraps are now converted into natural gas, supplying energy to homes. The remaining food waste is turned into fertilizer for local farms. Since its start, 6,170 pounds of food waste has been diverted from landfills (February 2020).

2019 SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Merit was awarded the 2019 Sustainability Award from the Business Intelligence Group in the Sustainability Leadership category. This award honors those who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice.

KITS AND PACKS PACKAGING

Merit produces upwards of 15 million kits per year, and through a major program to reduce film thickness in kit packaging, we’ve saved 17 tons of plastic per year without compromising quality.

PAPERLESS WORK ORDERS

Merit is in the process of transitioning all facilities worldwide from paper to electronic work orders. Once fully transitioned, we’ll reduce our paper usage by 2.8 million pieces and 20,000 plastic sleeves annually.

Merit Goal

By 2022, all Merit Medical work orders will be electronic, significantly reducing our paper consumption.

Energy & Natural Resource Conservation

TRANSITION TO LED LIGHTING

We’re transitioning from traditional lighting to LED light bulbs at all our facilities around the globe.

Merit Goal

In 2020, 90% of our lighting will come from LED light bulbs, greatly reducing our energy consumption.

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGER INSTALLATIONS

To encourage the increasing number of Merit employees who want to reduce their footprint, we’ve installed electric car chargers and preferential carpool parking at our Salt Lake City campus. Electric vehicle charging stations have prevented 6,663kg of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) from being produced which is equivalent to planting 171 trees and letting them grow for 10 years. By 2020, all current Merit facilities as well as any future facilities will do the same.

EFFICIENT HEATING & COOLING

Our Salt Lake City campus operates through Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, increasing our energy efficiency.

DECREASING WATER CONSUMPTION

To reduce water consumption in the arid climate of Utah, more than 6 acres of grass at our Salt Lake City HQ was removed and converted to an employee garden and xeriscaped land that uses water-efficient irrigation technology.

FARM TO TABLE

The employee garden at our Salt Lake City campus provides employee enjoyment as well as reduces long-distance food transport. In 2019, we harvested 1,370 pounds of produce that was then used in our cafeterias. We saw 1,100 pounds of produce grown for the employee U-pick program, 400 pounds of produce harvested and donated to senior centers in the SJ area, and $8,800 raised for Merit’s Candy Cane Program through plant and flower sales.

Ways We Reuse & Recycle

RECYCLING PALLETS

Merit has implemented an extensive program to make the best use of wooden shipping pallets and then recycle those that have become too worn for use.

SUSTAINABLE KITS & PACKS

The GreenChoice™ program for Kits & Packs now gives customers the option to choose eco product alternatives—such as trays and natural fiber towels—that can be included in their order.

EMPLOYEE RECYCLING PROGRAM

At our desks, warehouses, and cafeterias, employees enthusiastically participate in the Employee Recycling Program, recycling as many materials as we can, including paper, cardboard, food and beverage containers, scrap metal, and pallets.

PLASTIC MOLDING

Merit produces 420 million plastic molded parts each year. To reduce the plastic waste that surrounds a finished molded part, we partner with companies who can use that plastic. At our Salt Lake City HQ alone, we recycled 604,178 pounds of plastic molding waste in one year. As we purchase new molds, we’ve transitioned to hot runner molds, designed to fully eliminate plastic waste.

GREEN CAFÉS

Our employee cafés worldwide only use biodegradable cutlery. We’ve also invested in a line of fully compostable “to-go” containers made from plant starch and sugarcane. A program to transition to reusable cutlery when dining at a Merit café is currently underway.

UNIVERSAL TRANSPORT TRAY PACKAGING

We’ve invested in transport trays that can be reused 4 times and then recycled. In one year, Merit saved nearly 20,000 pounds in raw materials, such as plastic and corrugated fiberboard.

Merit Goal

In the year 2020, Merit dining facilities will transition to reusable cutlery and plates, notably reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.

ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION

Environmental Management System (EMS)

Merit Medical ISO 14001 Certified ISO 14001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). It provides a framework that an organization can follow, rather than establishing environmental performance requirements.

An EMS helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and the reduction of waste. Companies seeking ISO 14001 certification must consider all environmental issues relevant to its operations, such as air pollution, water and sewage issues, waste management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and resource use and efficiency–and work for constant improvement.

Merit is proud that many of our facilities have already received ISO 14001 certification and are looking to get more facilities certified within 2021.

Merit Medical sites that currently hold the ISO 14001 Certification are:

South Jordan, UT, USA
Galway, Ireland
Singapore
Paris, France

2019 Environmental Efforts by the Numbers

Each year, we track and measure our environmental performance, holding ourselves accountable and continually looking for ways to improve.

CORPORATE FOOD WASTE RECYCLING PROGRAM

Merit’s Scrape Your Plate program conserved 5.4 metric tons of CO₂

That’s the equivalent of charging 700,000 smartphones!

EMPLOYEE SHUTTLE PROGRAM

Merit’s shuttle program reduced emissions in Tijuana by approximately 15%.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS

Merit’s Galway and South Jordan stations conserved 8,000kg of greenhouse gas emissions

This conservation is equivalent to planting 200 trees and letting them grow for 10 years.

EMPLOYEE GARDENING PROGRAM

Over 3000 pounds of fresh produce was distributed to Merit employees while hundreds of pounds were donated to low-income senior citizen centers.

Our Relationship with the World