Mitie acquires healthcare waste firm

Facilities management company Mitie has acquired healthcare waste firm Cliniwaste, in a move which it says “shows its commitment to sustainable healthcare waste management”.

Cliniwaste 'specialises in the management and sustainable disposal of medical waste materials, such as hospital gowns, gloves, face masks, and other single-use plastics'

The companies have previously worked together to clear waste from Healthcare Environmental Services sites following the collapse of the company in 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story).

According to Mitie, Cliniwaste specialises in treating plastic waste generated by the NHS and pharmaceutical manufacturers, turning it in to a reusable resource.

This acquisition forms part of “Mitie’s strategy of providing sustainable waste management solutions to its clients, particularly in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors”.

Cliniwaste operates out of two UK sites in Nottingham and Bradford, which will transfer over to Mitie along with around 30 employees, including managing director Peter Wightwick.

Philosophy

Michael Taylor, managing director, Mitie Waste and Environmental, said: “At Mitie our philosophy is ‘resource, not waste’. Cliniwaste will expand Mitie’s ability to provide sustainable waste management solutions that embrace the circular economy, while also opening opportunities to bring this innovative waste management treatment to new industries.

“Having already worked closely together for several years, we look forward to working with the Cliniwaste team to deliver safe and sustainable clinical waste services across the UK’s healthcare sector and beyond.”

Cliniwaste

Established in 2019 to “support the NHS in solving a healthcare waste backlog”, Cliniwaste specialises in the “management and sustainable disposal” of medical waste materials, such as hospital gowns, gloves, face masks, and other single-use plastics.

The company says the waste it processes is recycled into clinical waste bags and containers used in healthcare environments.

Cliniwaste says it “wants to change the mindset of economics being the driving factor for waste disposal – working with waste producers and local government, we can develop improved essential service provision for the NHS and UK population as a whole”.

The company says its goal is to “maintain a sustainable and fully compliant management system of clinical waste”.

‘Natural home’

Peter Wightwick, managing director of Cliniwaste, remarked: “As one of the UK’s leading waste businesses, and already a close customer of ours, Mitie is a natural home for Cliniwaste to enable us to flourish and grow.

“By combining our unique expertise and niche capabilities with Mitie’s stature and position in the UK’s waste sector, we will be able to support more of the UK’s healthcare industry in their decarbonisation ambitions.”