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Case studies

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Good Corporate Citizen: Recycling

SNAPSHOT

In 2004, Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) introduced a recycling programme as part of its Good Corporate Citizen initiative, focusing on the treatment and disposal of waste. By introducing new technologies and changing its waste transport arrangements, the NUH recycling programme was able to reduce waste and cut approximately 50,000 road miles, meeting one of its sustainable objectives.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust supports a number of other initiatives to promote sustainable activities and has been recognised for a number of its initiatives as the 2007 and 2008 winners of the Health Service Journal Awards for Good Corporate Citizenship.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Reduced 50,000 road miles per year
  • Flock is recycled into building materials and as a potential plastics feedstock

Costs

  • Autoclave technology is still under development and the final costs have not been established at this time (July 2009)

Compliance

  • Department of Health’s Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe Management of Healthcare Waste
  • Saving carbon, improving Health: NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England

NUH introduced its Good Corporate Citizen initiative in 2002, aiming “to strive to be the hospital of choice” in the East Midlands region, with sustainable development at its core. NUH drew on Department of Health guidance (HTM 07-01) to improve its waste disposal procurement specifications, encouraging sustainability and innovative approaches to clinical waste management.

Introducing new procurement specifications has helped develop a more sustainable approach, including:

  • Use of auto-clave technology to sterilise offensive medical waste in pressurised, steam-heated vessels so that it can be processed into useful raw materials
  • Recycling treated plastic waste (flock) into long-life sustainable products, (e.g. in granular form, this material can be used in the manufacture of plastic components)
  • Treating waste within the locality of origin, so reducing road miles and the carbon footprint of the waste processing operations.

These new technologies for the treatment and disposal of waste have helped the Trust reduce carbon emissions, reduce pollution and save money. Reducing carbon emissions and other pollution reduces negative health consequences in the local population so ultimately helping to reduce the burden on local health services and a freeing-up of funds that can be invested in other aspects of health care.

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