Recycle Zone launched at Surrey hospital

Officially launched on Monday (December 8), the Recycling Zone scheme at Frimley hospital, near Camberley, is intended to allow staff, visitors and patients to recycle plastic bottles, cans and paper at various locations throughout the hospital grounds.

The introduction of 72 recycling bins at the hospital in the west of the county makes it the first medical institution to join three-year project to encourage public place recycling, which was launched by soft drink giant Coca-Cola Enterprises in collaboration with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in May 2008 to encourage people to recycle even when away from their homes (see letsrecycle.com story).

Lynne Philp, hotel services manager at Frimley Park Hospital, said: “We're proud to be the first hospital to take on this initiative in the UK. With such a high concentration of people on our site, Frimley Park Hospital has tremendous potential for recycling, and Recycle Zone will help us to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. We're confident our visitors and staff will be making full use of these facilities.”

Service

Having introduced the bins to the site, visitors and employees at the hospital are now going to be able to recycle material throughout the wards, foyer, offices and restaurant, and bins decorated as parrots and hippos have been put into the children's ward.

Introduction of the service was welcomed by Surrey county council, as executive member of the environment, David Harmer said: “Reducing the amount we send to landfill is a challenge that needs to be met Surrey residents, businesses and the public sector alike. Frimley Park has taken up this challenge, and Surrey county council is proud to have played a part in establishing them as the first on-the-go Recycle Zone hospital in the country.”

On-the-go

Former minister for waste Joan Ruddock launched the scheme at Thorpe Park amusement park in May 2008 as part of a plan to introduce 80 Recycling Zones across the UK by 2011. The scheme currently includes Warwick University and Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke, with the focus of the project falling on theme parks, shopping centres and international travel hubs.

Marcus Gover, Director of Market Development at WRAP, said: “Frimley Park has a large workforce, a high number of visitors and many drinks outlets on one site, making it an ideal place to locate a Recycle Zone. We hope to divert a high proportion of waste from landfill with this scheme.”

In partnership with plastics recycling charity, Recoup, Recycle Zone also offers up to 15 days technical consultancy to each participating location to enable them to adopt best practice for collection and recycling for drinks cans and bottles.

In June, Defra launched a document entitled ‘Recycle on the Go', following a consultation on public place recycling. The document, which is separate from the Recycle Zone scheme, was intended to serve as a good practice guide and voluntary code of practice for on-the-go recycling across the country (see letsrecycle.com story).