Disposable Gloves
- DON’T put any gloves into curbside recycling
- DO make sure your gloves actually make it into a trash can
- DO take steps to minimize how many disposable gloves you use unless truly necessary for your safety
- DO wash your hands after removing your gloves!
About These Items
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people were wearing using disposable gloves to prevent the spread of Covid-19. These gloves are also common in food service settings and everyday medical settings. Nearly all of these gloves are made primarily of latex, vinyl, or nitrile. No disposable gloves are accepted in the City of Pittsburgh’s curbside recycling.
If you are wearing disposable gloves, please make sure you deposit them in the trash when you are done.
There are a couple of specialty recycling programs available for gloves that may be doable for an organization or larger facility (see below).
Do you really need to use gloves?
WHO has released guidance of glove usage and the summary is that, in general, you should not use disposable gloves for things like grocery shopping etc. Instead focus on good hand-washing hygiene, which is more effective. The CDC also does not recommend gloves for personal protection from covid-19. Both WHO and CDC also point out that items like gloves are needed for healthcare and other essential workers, who’s personal risk of infection and spread will be higher than anyone who is mostly sheltering at home. Keep the gloves in the market for our essential workers!
There are Options for Recycling Large Quantities.
If you work at a facility that regularly uses large amounts of gloves, you could look into these two programs. Both cost money and require you set up physical collection points in your facility.
Kimtech’s RightCycle Program.
Kimtech is a supplier of various personal protection equipment including gloves for laboratory settings. Their RightCycle program allows labs to collect nitrile gloves and garments to be shipped back to Kimtech for recyling.
TerraCycle’s Glove Recycling Program.
TerraCycle has two collection boxes that accept all kinds of disposable gloves. Their Disposable Gloves Zero Waste Box accepts only gloves, and their Safety-Equipment and Protective Gear Zero Waste Box accepts all gloves as well as masks, hairnets, and other protective items.
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