Waste and recycling

We are committed to low carbon, sustainable healthcare. We recognise the relationship between our impact on the environment and the impact of climate change on public health and the services we provide.

To meet our responsibilities we use environmentally responsible compostable film when sending out copies of MC Magazine. It uses less carbon to produce, reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill, reduces the levels of pollution in the air, groundwater and soil and provides the earth with life promoting nutrients.

It is made from potato starch and is 100% compostable and biodegradable. It can be placed into home composting bins, food waste caddies and green waste for collection. In a well-maintained compost unit with exposure to air it should compost within 12 months, converting to CO¬2, water and biomass, with no contaminants left behind.

It is not intended for landfill (where it could be buried) and is not able to be recycled.

Our MC Magazine is printed on an FSC paper sourced from responsible managed forests. You can find out more on FSC’s website.

As a large organisation, the Trust has a responsibility to undertake the actions and investments to provide sustainable healthcare, both now and in the future.

The Trust is responding to the ‘Delivering a Net Zero National Health Service’ report, as well as the Greener NHS Campaign. As part of our journey to net zero and sustainability, we have a timeline to align with Greener NHS guidance.

We are working hard to meet the Government’s target for the NHS of net zero carbon by 2045.

• General waste (this is what you put in your black bin bag).

• Hazardous waste (sharps bins – sometimes referred to as clinical waste).

•  Offensive waste (this is the black and yellow (tiger) striped bags)

• Infectious waste (this is the orange bag).

• Confidential waste (anything that contains person-identifiable information (whether it is relating to service users or staff or is Trust business sensitive (e.g. contracts, proprietary third party supplier information, etc)

• Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

• Special waste (this is waste that gives off ozone depleting gases, i.e. batteries, lamps, fluorescent tubes and fridges).

• Metal waste

General waste – Our Trust has an arrangement with a contractor who sort the black bin bag waste off-site into the following streams:

• Cans
• Plastic
• Paper
• Cardboard
• Batteries

As part of the Trust’s assurance that this is carried out, site visits have been undertaken and monthly reports are received.

IT equipment – a contract is in place for all IT equipment recycled via the Service Level Agreement with St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) – a contract is in place for all WEEE to be recycled.

Special waste – this is collected and recycled by a specialist contractor.

Toner cartridges – these are collected by an external contractor for recycling.

Confidential waste – all shredded confidential waste is recycled by the contractor.

Old mobile phones – collected by an external contractor who recycles.

Cooking oil – All used cooking oil is collected from Hollins Park kitchens by a contractor who recycles this into animal feed and engine oil.

Wood and metal – this is stored in a separate skip and recycled by the contractor.

The average total of waste material recycled by the Trust for 18/19 is 98%. This has made a significant contribution to the Trusts carbon footprint.

The safe disposal and recycling of waste is everybody’s responsibility and we would welcome any ideas to improve what we do.

If your department or ward is doing anything at the moment to help recycle please let us know… we may be able to roll out your idea to the rest of the Trust.

You will need to complete a condemnation request form.

If you need to dispose of your uniform, you will need to cut off the Mersey Care logo and then put the uniform in a general waste bin at your base.

Uniforms disposed of in the general waste will be treated, sorted and recycled where possible and the process supports our Green Plan.

Further information on uniforms can be found on YourSpace or in the uniform policy.

Sustainability

Items that are disposed of in the general waste bins are collected by the contractor who transports the waste to their facility. This waste is put onto a picking line and sorted into two types – recyclable and non-recyclable. Recyclable materials such as paper, plastics, glass, metal are sent for recycling.

Non-recyclable materials are sent for energy recovery, this means burning the waste and recovering the energy that results from the combustion process and using it for electricity production/steam heating.

We operate a zero waste to landfill waste management practice and as such, 100% of the waste from the general waste stream is either recycled or has its energy recovered.

Find out more about sustainability at Mersey Care on YourSpace.

Hospitals and food waste facts

The NHS in England provides 140 million inpatient meals per year and costs £633m. It is estimated that NHS food and catering services produce 1,543 ktCO2e each year, which make up around 6% of the NHS’s total emissions.

9.5 million tonnes of all food produced is spoiled or wasted in the UK every year. Some of this is an avoidable waste of resources and produces ‘unnecessary’ emissions. WRAP(Waste and Resource Action Programme) estimates that up to 18% of food in hospitals may be wasted (equivalent to 1 in every 6 meals wasted).

Mersey Care and food waste

We currently have food waste collections at three of our inpatient sites (Rowan View, Heys Court and Leigh Moss) as part of a trial. Over the past 10 months the trial has identified that 33,210Kg of food waste has been produced. 

Contributing factors:

• Over ordering and incorrect stock rotation of food
• Not fully utilising the kiosk function   
• Ordering of takeaways on wards without informing kitchens when meal services are not required.

How can we improve our position?

We can make some simple changes to our practices which would enable a reduction in food waste, these include:

• Efficient ordering – plan the food orders that we need to make and only order the meals that we need
• Improving communications between the wards and the kitchens
• Meal ordering systems – implement a food ordering system trust wide will enable our patients to receive only the food that they want.
• Rotate stock is a very basic method that will enable full utilisation of the food we have within the wards. It enables us to consume the food before it expires.
• Order what you need – check stock levels and only order what is needed
• Only make what people like – removing unpopular menu choices enables us to introduce alternative options.

We are actively promoting more sustainable food consumption by:

• Improving the quality of food menu choices
• 20 to 25% of all new standard menus have plant based/ one vegan option in choices of salads, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, with specialist vegan menus available
• Greater emphasis on healthy eating e.g. two vegetables, salad and fruit across all services
•  Only plant-based fats used in food preparation e.g. in mash.

Top tips for reducing food waste at home and saving money

In 2021/22, 6.4 million tonnes of food (and drink) waste was generated from UK households. This equates to 95 kg per person per year or 341 kg per household of four people.

The greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with wasted food and drink (i.e., edible parts) accounted for approximately 18 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2021/22.

The cost to householders of purchasing food that was subsequently wasted in 2021/22 was £17 billion which equates to £250 per person each year or £1000 for a household of four.

There are many ways we can reduce the amount of food waste we produce at home.

• Stop buying items we don’t consume
• Bulk meal prep – preparing meals in bulk and freezing them is great way to avoid food waste. It also enables full utilisation of produce and freezing for longer term storage and saves valuable time.
• Plan in advance – planning the meals we will eat throughout the week will enable us to only buy what we need to eat during that week.
• Use left over roasted meats to make sandwiches, stir-fry and pasta salads is a great way to use up left over meats. Examples are available on Love Food Hate Waste website https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/foods-and-recipes