St Vincent's Nurses leading the way in reducing the hospital's environmental footprint

28 Feb 2023

St Vincent’s nurses are leading the way in recycling single use plastic water bottles, as part of a program that is working to not only reduce plastic waste, but provide revenue at the same time.

By simply collecting empty water bottles on the wards in dedicated bins that are set aside by the project team, and cashing them in for 10 cents each, our nursing workforce are stepping beyond their roles to actively reduce our environmental footprint.
Initiated by Roderigo Fritis-Lamora, since the beginning of the project in 2022, participating areas including 7 South, 8 North, 9 South, 10 South, the Cath Lab, Outpatients Clinic, the Vax Hub and Heart Lung Clinic, have collectively recycled 22,000 bottles.

The revenue raised will be redirected back in to current and future sustainability projects, such as a review of plastic consumable usage in the Intensive Care Unit.

Sarah Henstridge, ICU Nurse is leading a Clinical Redesign project to better understand the use of plastic consumables, starting at procurement level, to review what products and packaging are used, with the ultimate aim of reducing the overall volume being ordered.

"We aim to look at a holistic picture of plastic consumables used every day in the ICU. A minority of these consumables are contaminated with either pharmaceuticals or biological agents, but the majority are thrown away to with clinical waste”.

Together, the team intend on reducing overall waste in ICU by reducing volume, as well as determining which products can safely be recycled, and ensuring their separation from hazardous clinical wast.

For more information, or if you’re areas would like to join the water bottle recycling scheme, email Roderigo at rodrigo.fritis-lamora@svha.org.au

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Roderigo Fritis-Lamora and Sarah Henstridge in ICU