Recycle Week 2020 – Local hospital trust commits to recycle more than ever

Celebrating 17 years of Recycle Week

Recycle Week is now in its seventeenth year and is a celebration of recycling, organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand.

This year, the theme is thanking the nation for continuing to recycle despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, under the banner ‘Together – We Recycle’.

Earlier this year, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) achieved zero to landfill for all domestic waste. Previously around 40 per cent of our waste was being landfilled mainly from Grimsby hospital. The Trust’s new domestic waste contract with Veolia Environmental Services stipulates all recyclables produced by the Trust must be processed within the UK ensuring we are not associated with illegal dumping in foreign countries and modern slavery processing these materials.

Reuse and Repurpose

The waste team are also trying to adhere to the waste hierarchy by reusing furniture wherever possible both within the Trust and through external agencies. Recently, they worked with the Lincolnshire Refugee Doctors Project supplying them with cookers, foldaway beds, sofas and dining chairs which help furnish accommodation for doctors and their families. On another recent occasion, they supplied redundant beds to a Beverley-based charity that equips hospitals in Africa.

Aerobic Digesters help meet recycling targets

The Trust has also adopted new technology to cut costs and improve food waste management systems and two aerobic digesters have been installed at Grimsby and Scunthorpe hospitals. Food waste is fed into the machines and using aerobic digestion technology and a blend of micro-organisms, it naturally breaks down the food waste into a liquid form. Once the food waste is broken down, it is safely discharged as wastewater into the drains. Traditionally food waste was bagged in the kitchens and then taken to the service yard where it was placed in food wheelie bins for collection.

Sally Yates, Logistics and Waste Manager, said: “Recycle Week is a great way to highlight the work the Trust is doing to improve recycling across the organisation.

“We have a number of initiatives across the Trust and we encourage our staff to recycle and use the correct bins.”

Every Can Counts

NLaG is also raising awareness about the Every Can Counts campaign which aims to increase the single waste stream recycling of aluminium cans. Every Can Counts is a partnership between drink can manufacturers, the recycling industry and drink brands. It began life in the UK in 2009 and now has programmes in 16 countries across Europe.

Recycling is a more cost-effective way for the NHS to deal with waste. Drink cans are always 100 per cent recyclable, and once recycled could be back on sale as another can in just 60 days.