Bay Area teen's ReCap Project targets medical plastic waste for recycling
At the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University, an incredible collaboration is taking place between a 16-year-old high school student and the medical staff.
The ReCap Project, founded by Brandon Lin in 2023, was formed to keep certain medical plastics out of landfills and incinerators.
"So far, I've saved over 2,100 pounds of plastic out of the landfills," said Lin. "And that's the equivalent to over 1 million actual, like, pieces of plastic."
Medical plastic waste is a massive, growing problem, generating microplastics and toxins. A 2025 study found there are 2.1 million metric tons of single-use plastics used every year in healthcare across North America and Europe, with less than 5% recycled, resulting in 9.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
"It gives me nightmares," said Karen Ceresnak, pediatric ICU nurse at Packard Hospital and a founder of the hospital's Eco-Green team. "There is a lot of plastic waste here in every hospital."
Some medical waste is necessary to keep things sterile and prevent the spread of infections. Lin collects uncontaminated plastics which include needle and medication caps, as well as plastic containers.
"It hasn't touched anybody. It's not a biohazard, and it's really clean, and frankly ideal for recycling," said Lin's father, Dr. Ken Lin, pediatrician at Sutter Health San Carlos.
Lin's collaboration with Packard Hospital is key. Instead of throwing away the "safe" plastics, the staff now puts them into recycle bags found in each patient's room. There are also recycled plastic containers in supply rooms that serve as receptables for used plastic tips and medication caps. When they are full, the Lin family picks them up.
The collaboration has raised awareness within the hospital community.
"It's been very rewarding since we started working with him," said Ceresnak.
Once the boxes are loaded into the car, they head back to the Lin home where the entire family helps to sort the plastic by size, type, and color.
"Because each type of plastic needs to be processed a little bit differently because of its different properties," explained Lin.
The sorted plastics are brought to a local plastic recycler Peninsula Precious Plastics, where they're shredded and made into things like combs and clipboards.
Lin donates the combs to Samaritan House in San Mateo. He also brought some of the clipboards to Packard's pediatric ICU as a "thank you."
Registered nurse Clayton VanLiere picked the purple and white model, which was made from the ubiquitous Super Sani-Cloth germicidal disposable wipe containers found in hospitals.
"These are from the purple wipes," said VanLiere, marveling, "These things are sick."
Pediatric ICU nurse Uriel Contreras selected a bright orange clipboard, made from the tops of insulin caps.
"To see it just come to life like in a clipboard, it's just crazy that we can recycle them and put it to a good use," Contreras said.
It's a good prescription for a healthier planet Earth.