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Introduction
Hello and
welcome to
the spring
edition of
green news.
My name is
Jayne and I
am a student
from
Northumbria
University studying Geography
with a main focus on
sustainability. As part of my
work placement module James
and Ian have allowed me to
shadow them and gain extra
knowledge on waste and
energy related issues within a
large organisation.
In this issue we include an
overview of a number of
on-going projects for the
sustainability team (see page 3
and 7). We’ve also included an
overview of our successful
Climate Week and announce
the winners of the Climate
Week competition.
And last, but not least, we have
included a Green News Com-
petition at the back of this this
issue. Complete the eco word
search for a bit of fun and a
chance to win an eco-goodie
pack!
Thanks for reading.
The Sustainability Team
(James, Ian, Lynsey & Jayne)
Don’t forget to email us
with any Green queries:
Climate Week
The SUCCESS of Climate Week! During climate week the sustainability team were situated in several locations within the RVI, FH and CAV where many queries relating to recycling and other waste related uncer-tainties, and energy efficiency were answered.
SUSTAINABILITY SUGGESTION GOODIE GIVEAWAYS. A huge amount of suggestions were entered into our competition during climate week, all competing to win a handy-sized toolkit (see photograph below). Some good suggestions were for all staff to use the stairs instead of lifts (which would save energy and prevent wear on these facilities) and wearing appropriate layers of clothing instead of using heating/air conditioning facilities!
Winners of the competition Bob Pinkerton (FH Estates) David Wilson (FH Audiology) Les Ritson (RVI Estates) Pauline Burrill (FH Supplies) Angela Mufford (RVI Paeds) Joseph Usher (FH Pharmacy)
Increasing numbers of Green Champions during Climate Week. There was a large increase in the amount of people signing to be green champions,
this reflects on the enthusiastic attitude of NHS staff. Green champions spread the
word about recycling and energy efficiency and will receive information about any re-
cent changes and improvements within this Trust. and therefore help the Trust in
adapting a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach.
Want to become a green champion for your department?
Email us on: [email protected]
CLIMATE WEEK STALL 2013.
The photo opposite is the stall in the
Freeman Hospital Restaurant.
Visitors of all ages attended the stall
where any queries they had about re-
cyclable materials, bio-bins and how to
save energy were answered.
Visitors found the stall very informative
and were inspired to become greener.
Extra Investment in our Recycling Infrastructure
The Trust has recently invested in our existing recycling infrastructure further,
following the significant improvements of the last two years.
An additional 227 Green Bins have been purchased to improve access to recycling facilities in wards and departments. Most wards and departments can
now double the number of green bins they have.
10x Green 770L drop-front waste carts have been bought for the Freeman waste porters in order to help segregate clear bags of recycling and flattened
cardboard from the general waste (saving time and effort).
A large green portable compactor has been bought and installed at Freeman to replace the skip currently in use for the clear bags of recycling. This will significantly reduce collection frequency and costs, as well as as-
sociated transport emissions.
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
New Sustainability Strategy for NHS (2014-20) - Consultation Deadline!
The NHS SDU are consulting on the Sustainable Development Strategy for the health, public health and social care system. The Sustainability Development Unit are looking to achieve a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach to delivering a high standard of healthcare and
public health systems.
The new sustainability strategy advises an evaluation of the services we deliver and to creating a
more sustainable system whilst ensuring support is given to people through their life journey.
This document is available at: http://www.sdu.nhs.uk/documents/resources/SDS_Final_Med_Res.pdf
Any suggestions or comments? Contact the sustainability team via: [email protected].
Sustainability News
Don’t Miss Any Future Issues of Green News
If you would like to receive every future copy of Green News direct to your email
Inbox, please send us an email to [email protected].
Alternatively, if you don’t have an email address, just give us a ring on 0191 282 1655
and we can post a printed copy out to you.
DISPOSABLE FOIL TRAYS Disposable foil trays are used in a number of different areas across the trust and we are starting to see more and more of them in the clinical waste stream. These trays can only be used once before they are disposed of and they tend to end up in the clinical waste as they have been contaminated during use. Reusable plastic trays, cleaned between uses, can be used as a cheaper and more sustainable alter-
native.
A huge increase in foil tray usage has occurred in the last two years. We now use nearly 1 million trays a year (an increase of over 750,000), spend over £170,000 on buying them in (an increase in over £135,000) and dis-
pose of almost 10tonnes of used foil each year (an increase of over 8 tonnes).
SUGGESTED SOLUTION
Reusable plastics trays can be used to do the same job over and over again, if they are cleaned with Clinell wipes between uses. This is a much more cost-effective and environmental friendly approach and should be encouraged
as standard practice across the Trust.
BENEFITS OF USING REUSABLE PLASTIC TRAYS
Reduce departmental consumables costs by £170,000 a year
Reduce waste by almost 10 tonnes a year - complying with waste leg-
islation which requires us to prevent the generation of waste in the
first place (waste hierarchy).
Minimises health, safety and infection risks :
Reduces the risk of needle stick injury associated with sharp transfer
The sharp formed by the wasted folded foil tray can pierce the bag causing potential danger to those carrying the bags to the waste
room. Plastic containers do not carry this risk.
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
WARNING - SHARPS BOX FOUND IN FREEMAN RECYCLING SKIP
A skip full of clear bags of recycling from the Freeman Hospital was tipped at a local recovery facility week commencing 15th April and among the contents they found a 3L disposable sharps box
(pictured).
Unfortunately the sharps box had not had its label completed, so we are unable to trace it to which ward or department it came from. To make matters worse the box had not been locked and the contents had started to
spill out.
Please be extra vigilant when segregating your waste and ensure all sharps boxes and waste bags are labelled before disposal. Incorrect segregation could lead to serious injury to fellow members of staff or in this case our
contractor partners.
Waste & Recycling News
FREE SHARPSMART TROLLIES!
We have some free Cartsmarts with Clean Zone Bracket & Tray (pictured)
available on a first come first served basis.
These trollies can be used to mount each of the three sizes of reusable Sharpsmart boxes used in the Trust. They allow you to take the sharps box and tray to the patient side and creates a steady platform for aseptic procedures and the resulting Near Patient Sharps Disposal (NPSD). This is a more environmen-tally friendly alternative for NPSD than the disposable sharps boxes with white
trays.
Usually over £150 each we have a few of these trollies available free of charge. If you would like one for your area please get in touch with the sustainability team via an email to [email protected] stating a contact name, number
and the name of your ward or department.
Important Note: Using reusable sharps boxes helps us to reduce our Trust
carbon footprint by over 320 tonnes of CO2e each year.
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
REDUCING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF OUR WASTE ACTIVITES
The Sustainability Team have recently compiled the carbon footprint data associated with our waste disposal
activities since 2007 (the baseline year used by the NHS SDU for the target of 10% reduction in CO2e by 2015).
As you can see from the graph below, despite an increase in clinical activity (which normally results in more clinical waste) and the increase in the number of sites and staff (Community Health staff joining us in 2011) we have managed to reduce the carbon footprint of our waste disposal activities. We are ahead of our 10% reduction target
by 2015 already, so as long as we maintain these improvements we should be able to celebrate in two years!
The reason is primarily due to our target of zero waste to landfill resulting in the diversion of all our general waste from landfill to energy recovery in January 2011. Additional savings have come with the significant increase in
recycling over the last two years and better segregation of clinical waste in wards and departments.
Waste & Recycling News
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
Recycling Graphs
GRAPH COMMENTARIES
Overall Recycling Rate
This graph shows the percentage of non-clinical waste that we segregate for recycling. It includes our clear bags
of mixed recycling, scrap metal, batteries, flattened cardboard, scrap metal, confidential waste (after shredding),
dental plaster waste etc.
Recycling has shown a gradual increase, with some fluctuations, from February 2011 to March 2012. From
March 2012 to March 2013 recycling has remained relatively stable for all sites. In 2011 RVI had the largest recy-
cling rates, however Freeman’s recycling rates have increased and had overtaken the RVI in October 2012 - Jan-
uary 2013.
Cardboard Recycling
This graph shows the amount of cardboard segregated and recycled at our two sites that create their own card-
board bales.
A steady increase in cardboard recycling at the Freeman and the RVI has occurred since records were available
in January 2011. We now produce an average of 12 tonnes of cardboard bales at RVI each month and 10 tonnes
at Freeman.
Last year we received over £10,000 in rebate for our cardboard (adding saved disposal costs to this figure
gives us over £28,000 worth of value to the Trust each year).
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
Energy News USING NATURAL LIGHT
Daylight is the only freely available light source and provides us with the best possible lighting available, it provides superb colour rendering and with zero cost and CO2 emissions. It has been proved to give the physiological and psychological benefits that can aid with faster recoveries in hospitals also improving levels of concentration. By using natural daylight it can reduce electricity use by up to 40%. So why don’t
we make the most of it?
How to make the best use of natural light?
Organise the floor plan to ensure no furniture or large items restrict the natural lighting in the room.
Make the most of South Facing windows as they are a great source of light and warmth.
Lightly coloured rooms help reflect light.
Date for your Diary - Next Green Champions Event
The second round of green champions events will take place soon, following on from the success of the first events. The one hour sessions will take on Thursday 13th June: 10.00am (Lecture Theatre 2, Education Centre, Freeman) 2.00pm (Seminar Room 1, Sir James Spence, RVI) The sessions will include an update on the Green Champion suggestions from the last event, an Energy Masterclass, an update on Waste savings with good practice case studies and an open forum to discuss any Green issues. We hope to see you there!
WHAT IS GREY WATER?
Grey water can be described as a system that recycles wastewater which then goes through a system to purify the
water for reuse . An example of what the water will be used for includes the flushing of all toilets and urinals.
Environmental Savings
The amount of fresh water on earth is being used at an unsustainable rate by humans. The water on earth is con-stantly being recycled and purified through a natural water system. This has led to on third of the world’s population living in water-stressed countries. The water evaporates from the earth where it condenses to form clouds before precipitating down as rain. The water then runs into rivers, lakes, reservoirs and seas or percolates down into the
earths natural underground reservoirs.
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
Photo 1 shows the new Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant recently installed at the RVI to supply purified water to the endoscopy washer process. As a result of this process, see figure 1, there is a percentage of total water volume
known as reject water which goes directly to drain.
Now that the process is operational it has given the estates department the opportunity to carry out a feasibility
study to collect and redirect this otherwise wasted water to serve other engineering processes.
The intervention of this work is to reduce the cost of water consumption and associated sewerage charges, this
saving a valuable resource of water.
GREY WATER
FIGURE 1
PICTURE 1
GREEN NEWS [email protected] Spring 2013
GREEN WORDSEARCH
COMPETITION TIME!
See how many energy and waste words you can find for a chance to win an eco-goodie bag which
includes great prizes such as recycled pens, pencils and stationery organisers. Email a copy of your
completed word search to the sustainability team via [email protected] to be in with a chance
of winning! Winners to be announced in the Summer Issue of Green News.
R E C Y C L E R U W I P C C
U C O O L I N G Y A Y W L H
B O D L A F O W D S T C O A
B M P D E T U V B T E A S M
I P T A T S O M R E H T E P
S U V Y R Y T P H E R U W I
H T B L I G H T I N G R I O
Z E P I T R L L A W B N N N
B R Q G Y E B P F L O O D J
C S E H R E G E T I Q F O H
R J G T L N T C T X B F W S
E C O Z X H K A T U B V S G
U F K R U P L R E D U C E N
S D O J K I F B R Y I K P I
E V I A T T L O Q L E D L V
M I T N Q N B N E R M E S A
Q O E E L B A N I A T S U S
S V C L O E W S R N M K P A
D T U T N E M N O R I V N E
C L I M A T E C H A N G E E
COMPUTERS COOLING VENTILATION LIFTS TURNOFF THERMOSTAT
RUBBISH REUSE CLOSE WINDOWS WASTE CLIMATE CHANGE SUSTAINABLE
ECO REDUCE FLOOD L.E.D. RECYCLE GREEN
DAYLIGHT CHAMPION LIGHTING CARBON ENVIRONMENT SAVINGS
WORDS TO FIND...
