Renal Revending Project

Reverse vending - our journey Revending Deposit machines for returning drinks bottles and cans. Ensures compliantly segregated metals and plastics. Reduces the volume of items ‘less air’ which maximises storage. Rewards the users and promotes recycling. Three machines at Barts Health, collected over 5,000 items in 2 years.

Reverse vending - more benefits Revending Moves us up the waste hierarchy. Meets TEEP [Technically, Environmentally & Economically Practicable] Regulations. Reduces costs and emissions. Less portering time. Reduces recycling costs - MDR or commodity resale. Transport miles and fuel costs down, carbon footprint down.

Renal Dialysis plastics What next? Got us thinking… Renal Dialysis plastics Barts Health has four Renal Dialysis Units at its three Acute hospitals, with a throughput of over 200 patients per day using these 6 litre HDPE bottles, six days per week. That’s 1’200 HDPE bottles per week or 62’400 a year. Each empty HDPE bottle weighs 280 grams. So, for every 10,000 of these empty HDPE bottles being thrown away, equates to 2.8 tonnes of virgin HDPE plastic being burnt as RDF [Refuse Derived Fuel].

Wasting time, wasting bags, wasting virgin plastics! Lets do the maths… Wasting time, wasting bags, wasting virgin plastics! Lack of waste storage space, means that for every waste bag containing 9 empty bottles, has to be removed to a waste cart on each occasion. On average, that’s 22 portering movements per day just for this waste bag alone… And 22 clear domestic waste bags per day. And filling up 2½ waste carts per day. Finally, they take up huge volumes of space in our RDF compaction machines.

Review, make the case, influence change? What if we could… Review, make the case, influence change? Could we engage with our reverse vending partners and create a machine small enough to fit into some of our Renal Dialysis Units and compact large quantities of these 6 litre HDPE bottles? Reverse vending agreed to the challenge. We would save £13,000 over 10 years from reduced use of waste bags, bag and waste cart movements [60% reduction in portering time], increase in efficiency of compactor loads by diverting this waste stream out of RDF. More savings from sending these bottles off as DMR or commodity resale. Machines would be cost neutral in 5 years. Risk free; Reverse Vending would design, make, license and maintain the machines.

2 Renal Revending machines So new machines are created 2 Renal Revending machines Installed at two Renal Dialysis Units producing the most bottles. One at Whipps Cross University Hospital and One at Newham University Hospital Reduces the pressure on waste storage areas. Compacts HDPE bottles by 60% of their original volume. Between the two machines, they compact over 43,000 bottles per year. Each machine [and bag] holds up to 40 compacted bottles, requiring no more than two empties per day. Less portered movements; less plastic bags.

Collection & Recycling The process Collection & Recycling When enough items are collected, HDPE is bailed HDPE sent for reprocessing DMR / commodity resale Machine emptied twice per day Items stored

Carbon Trust Waste Reduction Standard Recognition Carbon Trust Waste Reduction Standard First NHS Trust to obtain the standard. Required submission of last 2 years waste data. Green Apple Award - Healthcare Best Practice Awarded for work with Reverse vending machines. Recognised innovation.

Conclusion The journey Reverse Vending Trust Procurement The journey Trust Management SKANSKA Waste FM Team Waste Manager Clinicians Closing the loop. Auditable results. Revenue potential. Collaborative working. Influencing behavioural change. Greening healthcare operations. Reducing waste costs through innovative and efficient waste segregation. Porters & House Keepers Waste Behavioural Change Team

Remember… Over 80% of Waste can be Recycled

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