Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is embarking on a transformative waste management project that will reduce the waste taken-off site by more than 60% over the next two years. With the help of biotechnology, the Trust will reduce waste collections at Stoke Mandeville Hospital by two thirds and deliver significant CO2 and cost savings, as part of an ambitious project to change how waste is viewed and treated.
Here, Rochelle Gee, Head of Property Service Operations explains more.
Rochelle said: “We have thousands of bins across our four hospitals and 18 healthcare locations, so managing multiple waste streams in a hospital environment is no easy feat. It’s why we are striving for a more effective and simple waste solution.
“We’re about to embark on a significant change programme, which is part of a 15-year partnership with Sodexo. The programme will see us process more than 2,300 tonnes of mixed residual, clinical and offensive waste on-site each year in a purpose-built facility, and we’ll be the first NHS Trust to do this.”
On-site solution
Over the next few months, Stoke Mandeville will install an innovative biotechnology solution from Advetec to process all waste, up to clinical, on-site. This will include mixed residual waste – the portion that can’t be recycled because of the presence of organic matter – and also the hospital’s recycling. The solution involves an aerobic digestion machine which use unique blends of bacteria to eat the organic component of waste, reducing its mass by 50% and volume by up to 70%.
Rochelle said: “With the help of biotechnology business Advetec, we will reduce our waste collections by 2/3 and the associated carbon emissions by 80%. It will help us to accelerate our journey to Net Zero.”
The floc that’s left after the process– which will include fragments of plastic, cardboard and glass – negates the need for landfill and can deliver even bigger cost savings if it’s sent for processing as a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). Processing waste as an SRF costs 40% less than sending waste to conventional mass burn Energy from Waste (EfW). As EfW costs are set to increase, SRF will generate more savings.
Rochelle said: “Initially our floc will go to Energy from Waste (EfW) which will give us an immediate significant carbon saving, but we’ll unlock greater value once we finalise our plans to process it as SRF. Our waste will benefit the circular economy – perhaps replacing carbon-emitting coal to power a cement kiln or being used to produce green gas for heating homes – and support the reduce, reuse, recycle concept.”
Simplifying waste streams
Rochelle said: “With this new project we don’t need to worry about recycling per se, offering multiple bins or what happens when streams get contaminated. This approach will also solve another issue as we’ve found that the weight of our recycling makes it very dirty very quickly. So much so, that it can’t be taken for recycling. Biotechnology helps us to solve this issue – processing waste before it leaves site, taking rubbish wagons off the roads and reducing our waste-related carbon emissions.”
Before embarking on the project, Rochelle carried out a full waste audit. She said: “To make better decisions you have to understand where you’re starting from and what you could do better. A waste audit requires you to ask difficult questions of yourselves and your waste handlers. It’s enlightening and invaluable.”
Currently, Stoke Mandeville Hospital has at least one waste collection each day for its three major waste streams. With Advetec’s technology, collections will reduce to just one or two per week. Similar will be achieved for clinical and offensive waste through their specialist partner Mariana.
Rochelle added: “Importantly, this innovation will also help to improve air quality, reduce road congestion and improve road safety for the community we serve. It will make us a more environmentally-responsible neighbour.”
Tackling human behaviour
Rochelle’s plans will also address what happens when visitors, suppliers and staff don’t recycle properly – a very real issue in a busy hospital. She said: “We’re adept at segregating rubbish at home, but this rarely translates into the same behaviours when we’re elsewhere. Even when you offer recycling facilities, people still put all their waste in the same bin. Or they put plastics in the recycling bin without realising the presence of organic matter can render them 
unsuitable for recycling. It’s why our change programme is all about making things simple.”
Biotechnology will play a crucial role in the Trust’s Net Zero future – helping it to protect the environment and the communities it serves, while also reducing non-clinical spend. Rochelle concluded: “We’re committed to changing our approach to waste and hope to be a best practice example of what other Trusts can achieve. It’s a journey that starts with carrying out a waste audit, finding the right partners, devising a clear vision for the future and taking that bold first step.”
With 11m tonnes of waste still ending up in the landfill and many Trusts sending their waste streams on 400 mile journeys to the incinerator, it’s time to think and act differently.
Further information can be found by visiting www.advetec.com.
