Increased staff engagement in the healthcare sector is key to improving waste and recycling practices within hospitals and other healthcare premises, according to the head of waste management firm Bywaters.
Speaking at the firms Innovation in Healthcare Waste Management seminar at the Royal College of Physicians on Friday (May 9), managing director John Glover outlined how it has installed two staff members as part of its contract with Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust to help it improve recycling behaviour on wards.
Mr Glover also outlined other work Bywaters has done under its contract with the Trust; an estimated 500 litres of waste oil from the hospital was being used to power vehicles in London each month.
Other features described include a weighbridge system in the hospital loading bay allowing it to flag up the areas that are failing to engage in recycling activities.
Mr Glover said: Embedding the principles of sustainable development into all aspects of an organisations business will, in turn, result in increasing, long-term benefits not just for that organisation, but for the economy, environment and society as a whole.
The waste oil from Guys and St Thomas Hospital is being collected by a local biofuel company, turned into biofuel about one mile from Guys Hospital and is powering London vehicles, including black cabs and local business generators.
Contamination
Also speaking at the seminar, the Trusts sustainability manager Alexandra Hammond, who said the organisation is working hard to tackle the problem of clinical waste contamination in its domestic waste stream.
‘There has been a real shift over the last five years, now we are doing something that looks at the environmental impacts of what we do and how that affects the businesses that work with us and our patients.’
– Alexandra Hammond, Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust sustainability manager
The Guys and St Thomas Trust one of the largest employers in South London with over 12,000 staff and over two million patient contacts a year – is considering rolling out punitive measures to ensure wards reduce contamination, including a three-strike system after which they would face a penalty fine.
As of 2013/14, waste costs are down 15% while the Trust believes it will save an extra 1 million through its energy performance contract (EPC) framework.
Ms Hammond said: There has been a real shift over the last five years, now we are doing something that looks at the environmental impacts of what we do and how that affects the businesses that work with us and our patients.
Treatment
Meanwhile, waste consultancy Independent Safety Services technical director Dr Anne Woolridge also told delegates that on-site treatment of healthcare waste at hospitals could one day become a reality.
Dr Woolridge explained that local treatment of domestic and clinical waste from hospitals would make sense given the current definition of offensive waste making it suitable for alternative methods of disposal.
Offensive waste, which under current legal definitions is considered non-infectious, includes sanitary products and nappies and is in some cases suitable for recycling. In December last year, OCS Group opened the UKs sole nappy recycling facility in Rochester, Kent (see letsrecycle.com story).
She said: There are a lot of companies out there that say you can treat all your waste on-site. This would make financial sense and return a lot more control. We know that at some point people will look at doing this and the Environment Agency is looking at reviewing the permit conditions.
Register for free to comment