Waste strategy
A practical approach to waste management
In March 2013, the Department of Health (DH), in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Transport, produced an updated version of Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01), fully supported by the Environment Agency (EA), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the devolved administrations. Here, Stuart Budd, head of Environment, Safety and Health, and Keerti Baker, PR and communications executive, at SRCL, one of the UK’s leading healthcare waste specialists, look in some detail at the updated guidance, with a particular focus on new developments in the area of clinical waste.
first published in 2006. This edition supersedes previous editions of the document, with some of the key areas of change covering updates to legislation since 2006, specifically for environmental permitting and transport/carriage regulations. The updates also focus on the waste hierarchy, and ‘the elimination, minimisation, recycling, and recovery, of waste’. The HTM 07-01 guidance document,
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now condensed into a 187-page version (compared with the previous version of 450 pages; see
www.tinyurl.com/kf263dd), also includes a drive to address the carbon impact related to waste – through resource efficiency, transport impacts, and disposal agreements. Additionally, there is a focus on practical advice, with examples for classifying waste, and in particular the infectious and offensive waste streams, including case studies to highlight best practice. In addition to highlighting the direct environmental benefits achieved through compliant management of healthcare waste, the HTM 07-01 guidance also presents opportunities for introducing cost savings and safer working practices, as well as reducing carbon emissions related to managing waste.
Market trends in clinical waste Although the general volume of waste is seen to be reducing, the clinical waste market is still pushing hard towards sustainability, and innovative solutions that take waste away fromlandfill. The NHS is seeking suppliers with a ‘zero-to-landfill’ commitment. In particular, NHS customers are looking for new technologies pertaining
he Guidance on the Safe Management of Healthcare Waste (HTM 07-01) provides an update to the document
SRCL containers incorporating sharps waste are taken to a treatment facility, where they are opened, emptied, and finally disinfected, using an automated wash line (inset) operated via robotics technology.
to the 180104 stream(offensive waste) that take such waste away fromlandfill disposal routes, and help producersmove up the waste hierarchy. The sustainable disposal of by-products of the clinical waste treatment process, e.g. the waste left over after alternative treatment of clinical waste, is also gainingmomentum. At SRCL we recycle 60% of our flock – a residue left over when clinical waste undergoes alternative treatment. This material can be used as an alternative fuel source to fossil fuels, and is of considerable interest to our customers, since it essentially ‘closes the loop’.
Updates to regulations On 1 April 2013 Natural ResourcesWales (NRW) took over the work of Countryside Council forWales, Environment Agency Wales, and Forestry CommissionWales, as well as some functions of theWelsh Assembly Government. Its purpose is to ensure that the natural resources ofWales are sustainably maintained, enhanced, and used. NRWis now responsible for regulating the clinical waste produced by healthcare providers, and for regulating clinical waste treatment facilities, inWales. There are also the new definitions for ‘clinical waste’ and ‘offensive waste’
Health Estate Journal September 2013
45
All photos courtesy of SRCL
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