Topic

PVC recycling scheme

lydia Howells
lydia Howells • 29 April 2019
12 comments

Hello!
I am a Deputy Charge Nurse of a Recovery Unit in Scotland
I am about 2 months into a Q.I project of reducing our clinical waste by maximising correct waste segregation procedures.
I am also in contact with the MDT in regards with doing a pilot study in Main Recovery to use a PVC recycling company (RECOMED, in partnership with AXION) to create a circular economy for anaesthetic masks/ o2 masks/saline bags and nasal canula AKA the majority of our clinical waste!  This is still in talking stages & I have many big hoops to jump through to get this project underway, procurement being one of the biggest ones.

Any insight into previous similar studies and how to get around big national contracts so I can commence this pilot study &  test/evidence  benefits/drawbacks to PVC recycling? anybody worked alongside AXION/RECOMED before?

Any input would be great as its starting to feel like an unachievable conquest but I am determinded to keep pushing for change!

Lydia

Comments (12)

Matthew Jenks
Matthew Jenks • 5 years ago

http://recyclinginhospitals.com.au/

Please see this link, PVC recyling is widespread in New Zealand hospitals and in Victorian state of Australia. If you email me on matthew.jenks6@gmail.com i can send you the case study of how we set up at our hospital (cant seem to attach anything in comments). Main issue is having a recylcer, and logistics (someone to pick up the product). In Australia and NZ this has been coordinated by Baxter which is great. The other main issue has been monitoring for contamination....an ongoing process!. Matt Jenks

Charlotte Holbrook
Charlotte Holbrook • 5 years ago

Hi Matt, thanks so much for adding the link to PVC recycling in AUS and NZ - what a great site!  http://recyclinginhospitals.com.au/

It would be great if you could add your case study to the site as I'm sure it would be a valuable resource. You should be able to upload it by picking 'create a resource' - assuming you don't mind sharing it with us all of course! If you have any trouble, do let me know and I'll find a way to share it on the site. Charlotte 

Charlotte Holbrook
Charlotte Holbrook • 5 years ago

Hi Lydia, thanks for getting in contact with the network. I know that the North Bristol NHS Trust have an Environmentally Sustainable Theatres working group and that one of their projects includes a PVC recycling scheme. I am not sure what stage they are at with this, but will get in touch with my contact there and see if she can share some information or provide some contacts for you. 

It would also be great to hear how you get on with your QI project into waste segregation as we would love to have some more case studies up on the site!

Charlotte 

Cathy Lawson
Cathy Lawson • 5 years ago

Hi Lydia, 

Great to hear that your department in keen to look into this.  I 've been trying to adopt this regionally across anaesthetic departments in the North East of England for a little while now and am happy to share all of the resources that I have with you if that would be helpful?  We're engaged with RecoMed at my current hospital and it was with their speciality plastics recycling takeback scheme that our regional work centred around.  Do drop me a private message if you'd like access to our resources.

Kindest regards, 

Cathy

lydia Howells
lydia Howells • 5 years ago

Hi Cathy

I have landed myself a fantastic opportunity with directorates of the hospital who are intersted in hearing about my project!

I feel it is important I can showcase as much postitive work as possible inlcuding examples of what people are doing in other areas/trusts as my project is very much in its infancy...but all baby steps int he right direction!

anything that could be sent to showcase:-

  • separation of watse
  • circular waste streams ( PVC recycling schemes)
  • finacial cost reductions
  • improved environmental impacts

would be highly advantageous!

 

My personal email is lydiamairmorgan@gmail.com if you have anything suitable

 

thanks agian for the support

 

lydia

Jonny Groome
Jonny Groome • 5 years ago

Hi Lydia,

I head up a group called GASP - Greener Anaesthesia & Sustainability Project. We are a group focused on reducing the environmental impact of healthcare. We currently have RecoMed Projects at multiple sites. We would be more than happy to help you out if you need any help. Check out our website: gaspanaesthesia.com where you will find information about our projects.

Just as a heads up they are no longer taking IV fluid bags just masks and tubing.

Let me know if I can help

Jonny

Anaesthetic Registrar & Co-Founder GASP

Cathy Lawson
Cathy Lawson • 5 years ago

Hi Lydia, 

So sorry it's taken me so long to reply.  The notification from CSH website got buried in my inbox.  The Association of Anaesthetists are currently working on a waste flow chart.  It's still in draft format and I think that there will be a presentation on it at Annual Congress this September in Glasgow (environmental session on the Thursday AM).   With regards to PVC recycling, I did a lot with RecoMed in our region and am happy to share the generic documents that I made with you.  I don't know whether I can share attachments on here so will need to double check if +'/- how to do that with someone from CSH.

I can e-mail them to you in the interim and then happy to share them all on here for folk to use.

Kindest regards, 

Cathy

lydia Howells
lydia Howells • 5 years ago

Thank You Cathy ..What an incredibly useful set on links, thank you so much!
I'm in the waiting list for RecoMed but off site facilities are a problem for waste management. I will send him the information you have provided though so he can further see the process involved!

I've got 3 weeks left on my Q.I project data collection & can hopefully start sharing some positive results on the site!

Cathy Lawson
Cathy Lawson • 5 years ago

Hi Lydia, 

As you can see, no sooner had I sent the first message did I figure it out!  I've attached all of the documents we put together and sent out to various hospitals in the region.  I think that the e-mail address for RecoMed may have changed as they've had a change of staff. Take a look at this link for further details (scroll down to bottom of page.

https://axiongroup.co.uk/services/specialist-collection-schemes/recomed/ 

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