Pop quiz! 1) What percentage of hospital waste comes from

theatre?

2) How much do you think the DHB pays for a tonne

of general waste?

3) What are two of the other R's of sustainability?

Other than reduce, reuse, recycle?

4) What is Enviro-mark?

North Shore and Waitakere Hospitals are proudly Enviro-Mark

certified

Answers-

1) 20-30%

2) $70-95/ tonne

3) Refuse, Rethink, Repair, Re gift, Recover

and Reconsider!!

4) New Zealand's original environmental

certification programme, Enviro-mark

enables companies to reach International

Standard of ISO 14001 2004

-WDHB has made a 20% reduction in

waste-

this equates to a $46,000 saving and 445

tonnes of waste normally going to landfill!

-we currently generate approx 7kg

waste/day/inpatient

Statistics- January 2011- March 2012

Waste Costs

•General waste is charged at $70-95/tonne

•Medical(Contaminated) waste is charged at

$780/tonne (78c/kg)

•Sharps containers are $24/empty for the

smallest one!

•Paper/Cardboard we are paid a rebate of

$55/tonne

Waste Costs

•Plastic Film we are paid $100/tonne

•There is no charge for co-Mingle

A report from the department of Anaesthesia at

Western Hospital in Australia- noted that “the

anaesthesia waste stream represented 25% of

the OR waste and that 60% of anaesthesia

waste is recyclable.”

This report also found that “one of the barriers

to recycling is failure to separate infectious

waste from clean waste.”

McGain E,Hendel SA, Storey DA, 2009

WDHB Sustainability Policy 5.3 Waste Management-

Responsibilities-

“All staff and areas within Waitemata DHB. Individual

managers are responsible for staff training, reducing

the creation of waste, minimising disposal through

reuse and recycling and ensuring safe disposal of all

other wastes as outlined in this document.”

WDHB Sustainability Policy 5.3 Waste

Management-

“All waste is to be segregated at the point of

generation, by the staff involved, into the appropriate

labelled container in order to reduce handling for the

purposes of efficiency and safety. All staff have a

responsibility for minimising waste and correct

segregation.”

•I saw something I wanted to take action

around- and created it step by step.

Hurdles I encountered-

•lots of questions, resistance, objections and

resistance to change…(best advice I ever got-

smile and carry on!)

•Mismatch of institutional policy and belief.

How I went about it-

What I would do differently if I was to do it again-

•plan more, before action, communicate that action

•structure and allow myself the time to educate before

“rolling out” a new system

What I learnt-

•That most people/staff really do want to make a

difference

•Patience and diplomacy

•It can be a challenge to “find” the time to action

this, it often takes longer than I expect, especially

when its not one’s fulltime job!

“What" we did in the slides that

follow…

Conclusions... •It does make a difference!

•Once set up and going, momentum and

enthusiasm grow

•A Sustainability Officer, working group and/or

Sustainability Policy really works!

•Networking Nationwide helps!

Recycle bins first edition signage:

Second

…second edition:

...third edition:

CO-MINGLE ‘BLUE’

Bin “Any “clean" cans, aluminium

trays, hard plastic or plastic with

the number 1, 2, or 5 on the

bottom”

IF IN DOUBT ASK YOUR

WAITAKERE HOSPITAL

SUSTAINABILITY REP:

MARTIN VAN DER KAAY

martin.vanderkaay@waitematadhb.govt.nz

PAPER

‘GREEN’ BIN

“Any paper

or cardboard

you can tear”

IF IN DOUBT ASK YOUR

WAITAKERE HOSPITAL

SUSTAINABILITY REP:

Martin van der Kaay martin.vanderkaay@waitematadhb.go

vt.nz

SOFT PLASTIC

FILM and PLASTIC

WRAP ‘YELLOW’

BIN

“Clear film and wrap only”

IF IN DOUBT ASK YOUR

WAITAKERE HOSPITAL

SUSTAINABILITY REP:

Martin van der Kaay

martin.vanderkaay@waitematadhb.govt.nz