Waste Management — All employees have a duty of care to make sure that their waste is disposed of correctly. The best way of managing waste is not to produce it, then consider the ‘waste hierarchy’:

Successful segregation of waste reduces the negative impact the organisation has upon the environment and free money to be spent on frontline services. NCC-C is committed to year on year increases in recycled.

Useful Links & Contacts

The Carbon Trust (http://www.carbontrust.com) - Expert advice, foot-printing and technology services to help busi-ness, governments and organisations worldwide cut carbon emissions & costs.

Energy Saving Trust (http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk) - Find out how you can be more energy efficient in your home, save money on your energy bills and get information on saving water.

Traveline (http://www.traveline.info) - A partnership of transport operators and local authorities formed to provide impartial and comprehensive information about public transport.

Sustrans (http://www.sustrans.org.uk) - Sustrans works with communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people can choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper jour-neys and enjoy better, safer spaces to live in.

NHS Wales Environmental Guidance Health Technical Memorandums - HTMs (http://

howis.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=254&pid=53557) Providing technical guidance on energy, waste and water.

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership - Facilities Services (http://howis.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=254&pid=10815)

The Environmental Management and Engineering section takes the lead role in NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership - Facilities Services on all aspects of environmental manage-ment and provides advice and support on specialist health-care engineering systems.

Velindre NHS Trust Sustainability & ISO14001 Information (http://howis.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=357&pid=46775) Providing information on sustain-ability and the internationally recognised environmental certification ISO14001.

Environment Development & Compliance Officer, Velindre NHS Trust Email: David.Williams42@wales.nhs.uk

Publish Date: 29/01/2015 Review Date: 29/01/2016

3R’s—Reduce, Reuse, Re-cycle

On average 60-80% of office waste is paper

“If we each do a little - we all do a lot!”

National Collaborating Centre for Cancer Environmental Factsheet

For Staff, Visitors & Contractors

Climate Change

Describes a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent since the early 1900s and attrib-uted largely to the increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Possible Effects of Climate Change

Rising temperatures— Global temperatures are predicted to rise between 1 and 7 degrees centigrade over the next eighty years. Extreme Weather Conditions— Climate change can increase the frequency of heat-waves, storms, floods and drought con-ditions around the world. Altered Habitats— Animals and plants cannot adapt as fast as humans and some predictions claim that climate change could lead to many plants and animals going extinct as the areas they live in change due to environmental changes. Food Scarcity—Changes to rain fall patterns and increased ad-verse weather events may affect global food supplies.

Types of Waste

Green Bag — For recycling waste e.g. Paper, card, plastic containers and bottles, food and drink cans. Check local policies for recycling.

Confidential Waste Bin — Secured containers are provided and the waste is shredded off site and then recycled. Black Bag — For all remaining non recyclable general waste.

When bags are 3/4 full, they must be sealed using the appropriate method and put out in the designated waste collection point.

Construction & Contractors The Designed for Life: Building for Wales frameworks are NHS Wales construction procurement and delivery frameworks for major capital projects, aiming to deliver Welsh Government core objectives, including Best Value for Money, Best Practice and Sustainability. As part of our EMS we must ensure that contractors adhere to our environmental rules:

Only connect to energy sources with division agreement.

Clean up any spillages of materials appropriately and notify the site contact to ensure no substances enter into the drainage system. Ensure materials and expertise are appro-priate for the activity.

Skips/waste containers must be secured and remove waste from site.

Procurement Services work to improve sustainability by reduc-

ing waste, increasing recycling and reducing CO2 emissions, by

challenging current practices within NHS Wales and influencing

suppliers to help support this important agenda, through

Welsh Government Procurement Frameworks.

Procurement

Energy Saving — NHS Wales is a huge consumer of energy – the annual cost is 34 million per annum, which is equivalent to approx 34,000 households.

Lighting — Unnecessary lighting is wasteful and increases energy consumption:

Switch off lights that are not needed where it is safe to do so

Make maximum use of daylight

Turn off lights in unoccupied areas

Reduce decorative lighting

Ensure someone turns off any remaining lights at the end of the day

Fit labels on switches so people know which switches control which lights

Heating — Heating is a major consumer of energy, particularly in winter and can account for a large proportion of the energy used in organisations:

Report occupancy patterns - there is no point heating rooms when everyone has left work.

If temperatures are too high, turn your radiators down rather than open your windows.

Close doors and windows when the heating is on.

Report doors and windows that do not seal cor-rectly when closed.

Only use portable electric heaters when required and ensure they are switched off when not re-quired.

Report any heating issues to your manager so they can be addressed.

Cooling — Cooling is also a major consumer of energy, particu-larly in summer and can account for a large proportion of the energy used in organisations:

Ensure that fans are not running at the same time as the heating and are switched off when not required.

If windows and doors need to be opened ensure that the heating is switched off.

Only cool for as long as people are in the build-ing.

Where possible, switch off lighting and office equipment to reduce any additional heat.

Report any malfunctioning equipment to your manager.

Office Equipment — Each piece of equipment in your office may only use a small amount of energy, but it all adds up. The energy used is mostly given off as heat, which in turn can make the working environment uncomfortable. You can reduce en-ergy consumption in your office by:

Only switching on PCs, monitors, copiers, printers etc when needed.

Making sure all equipment is switched off at the end of each working day. You can put a poster on the back of the office door to remind people to switch everything off.

Using energy efficient equipment.

Fitting timers to equipment so that it turns off automati-

cally.

ISO 14001 EMS NCC-C is currently implementing an EMS which is audited to the ISO 14001 environmental standard.

Q. What is an Environmental Management System (EMS)? A. This is a system which will limit the negative impact which an organisation can have on the environment. Furthermore it will contain a commitment to prevent pollution, maintain legal and other requirements and seek continual improvement in environmental management. A copy of the NCC-C Environ-mental statement is available on request.

Q. How does an Environmental Management system lower the impact an organisation will have on the environment? A. An initial site assessment is made to identify and rate all our environmental hazards. Any hazards which rate high risk must have operational procedures in place to control the hazard.

Q. How is the system monitored? A. There are periodic reviews which are sent to the Trust Sus-tainability Group and a mixture of internal and external audits.

Sources of Environmental information at NCC-C

Intranet Environmental Noticeboard Induction

Environmental information board (located in middle of office).

Centre and Assistant Centre Managers, Project Manager and Environmental Compliance Officer.

Human Causes of Climate Change Burning of Fossil Fuels — This produces around 21.3 billion tons of CO2 every year. Some of the CO2 released from fossil fuels is absorbed naturally by plants and large bodies of water with the rest entering the atmosphere. Deforestation —Trees take in CO2 and water which they use for energy (photosynthesis). Some of the carbon is released back into the atmosphere, however a large amount of it re-mains within the trees. Cutting down large areas of forest for farmland will therefore reduce the amount of carbon which is removed from the atmosphere by this natural storage system. Waste Disposal—If waste is not properly treated or disposed of effectively, it produces greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and carbon dioxide; this is especially true for waste which is sent to landfill.

Reducing Our Impact on the Environment

Sustainable Travel - NCC-C requests that all staff, visitors and contractors consider the ‘Travel Hierarchy’ when arranging travel for commuting, meetings, conferences and visits:

Videoconferencing - VC facilities are available on site, allowing people at two or more locations to see and hear each other at the same time, minimising travel. Contact site reception for details.

Walking - Walking is good for your heart, lungs, muscles, bones, joints, improves your mood and boosts self-esteem.

Cycle - Secure cycle racks located in car park and a shower onsite.

Bus - Bus stops located next to the front entrance along Greyfriars Road (Operators Cardiff Bus, Stagecoach, Edwards).

Train - The Queen Street train station is within approximately 3 minutes walk (Arriva Trains Wales). For conferences book tickets early for cheaper rates and maximum availability.

Car Sharing - Car sharing is encouraged, using the journey for mul-tiple purposes if possible (e.g. delivery of reports, leaflets).

Lone Driver - NCC-C site postcode is CF10 3AF, parking is limited.

See map or ‘Useful Links & Contacts’ section for more information.

“If it’s not in use — turn off the juice!”