We’re delighted to have won a national Zero Waste award for our efforts to recycle, reuse and reduce waste.
Our scheme was awarded four out of five stars by the judges, who praised our commitment to reducing its environmental impact.
We were also the only hospital trust to be recognised.
Set up in 2010, the scheme has more than 500 members and is the premier recognition scheme for businesses and organisations that are committed to increasing the amount of waste they reduce, reuse and recycle.
We were recognised for working hard, with our contractors, to achieve zero waste to landfill.
Another criteria was that waste is only transported within an 80-mile radius of our hospital sites.
Sally Yates, logistics and waste manager, said: “This a fantastic starting point on our journey to reduce waste and increase recycling. Achieving zero waste to landfill is very important as it demonstrates our commitment to making our Trust greener. I must thank my team and all the staff who have helped us get this far. We have a lot of ideas of things we would like to do in the future which will help us get that extra star.”
Increased recycling, zero waste
Our current aspiration is to increase recycling and we’re encouraging staff to reuse furniture and buy reusable water bottles.
We are also sending hospital beds that are still in good working order, as well as clinical items such as dressings, to Third World countries via a local charity.
Any clinical or domestic waste we produce is either recycled, reused or sent to energy recovery.
The NHS Green agenda is one of our priorities for 2021/22 and we will promote, develop and embed the NHS Green agenda, specifically procurement policies, staff energy champions, travel, waste and energy reduction.
As part of this, we will invest £40.3 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund – joint Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – in Green schemes across Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole hospitals, including replacing the coal-fired boiler at Goole.
Zero Waste Award winners will be recognised at a ceremony in November.
