For the first time, Newcastle Hospitals has formalised its approach to waste and resources in a waste and resources management strategy.
The strategy sets clear goals and objectives in line with both our climate emergency strategy and aligns with targets set out in NHS England’s clinical waste strategy.
In recent years, there has been significant progress towards achieving targets established for the segregation and classification of waste, in particular the reduction in hazardous waste requiring specialist treatment – disinfection or high temperature incineration.
Steady progress has been made towards the target of 35% of total waste being sent for recycling although it remains a challenging target and subject to situational fluctuation.
Overall, however, volumes of waste remain high and significant effort needs to be focused on this in the coming years.
Resource management and the purchasing of consumables and single-use items must become the subject of significant attention – waste prevention and minimisation.
In this strategy, we set out our overall objectives to:
- Reduce overall volume of waste produced
- Reduce volumes of waste per patient contact
- Reduce hazardous waste consigned to disposal level of the waste hierarchy
- Develop case studies detailing measurable waste prevention and waste hierarchy initiatives
The strategy identifies pending regulatory changes across the waste industry which we anticipate will impact the trust and prompt changes to our waste segregation and consignment.
We will seek to mitigate any financial impacts associated with these changes.
Waste and resources strategy
