The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. UK Circular Plastics Flagship Projects Competition

For more information, click here

2. Workshop on circular economy and sustainable procurement models

The Group will be hosting a half-day workshop on the utilisation of circular economy and sutainable procurement models in the spring of 2019. The event will be held at Heatherwood Hospital.  More details to follow.

3. Most don’t support proposed ban on disposable wipes

Read more here

4. Management of radioactive waste

Read more here

5. Consultation on amendments to the use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations

Read more here

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Workshop on circular economy and sustainable procurement models

The Group will be hosting a half-day workshop on the utilisation of circular economy and sutainable procurement models in the spring of 2019. The event will be held at Heatherwood Hospital.  More details to follow.

2. Funding for industrial heat recovery

For more information, click here

3. Employers in the energy sector are invited to apply to have a PhD student work on their energy project

Read more here

4. Royal College of Physicians achieves Carbon Trust standard certification

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has been recognised for recording a 30% reduction in its carbon footprint over a three-year period by becoming the first royal college to receive the Carbon Trust Standard certification.

Read more here

5. Tender for clinical waste management with Sheffield City Council

Sheffield City Council invites quotations for the provision of Clinical Waste Management, for the Medico – Legal Centre, Watery Street, Sheffield, S3 7ES.

The Medico-Legal Centre is purpose-built to provide facilities and services required for the investigation of sudden or unexpected death. It…ved and is nationally and internationally recognised as a model of good practice in this field of work.

For more information, click here

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Workshop on circular economy and sustainable procurement models

The Group will be hosting a half-day workshop on the utilisation of circular economy and sutainable procurement models in the spring of 2019. The event will be held at Heatherwood Hospital.  More details to follow.

2. Using technology to improve public sector productivity

Read more here

3. Vacancy for an Environment Advisor at the University of Northampton

For more information, click here

4. Scotland’s landfill ban on biodegradable waste deemed ‘not achievable’

Concerns are emerging over waste material in Scotland being diverted to English landfills as a result of the Scottish Government’s ban on landfilling biodegradable waste from 2021. 

And, the likelihood of cross border movements comes amid a warning to the association for Scotland’s local authorities that it is “unlikely” councils will be able to meet the 2021 landfill ban.

Read more here

5. Great Britain’s annual injury and ill health statistics

Read more here

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Sustainable health and care awards

Bookings to attend the Sustainable Health and Care awards ceremony and gala dinner are now open. The ceremony will take on 21 November 2018 at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, following the Sustainable Health and Care forum.

Read more here

2. NHS crutch amnesty

Read more here

3. UK Circular Plastics Flagship funding

For more information, click here

4. Tradebe purchase of Avanti approved

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the completed acquisition by Tradebe Environmental Services of Avanti Environmental.

The decision by the Authority was announced on October 25, around four months after it served an initial enforcement order in July.

International business, Tradebe, acquired Avanti Environmental Group from Stericycle in June, which came six months after also acquiring laboratory waste specialists Lab Waste.

Read more here

5. Healthcare at Yarls Wood IRC – Open early engagement

NHS ARDEN AND GREATER EAST MIDLANDS COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNIT

NHS England is undertaking a market engagement exercise for an upcoming ITT for Offender Healthcare in HMP Yarls Wood IRC.
NHS England is looking for feedback on potential contract models, contract length and any other information for an ITT for Offender Healthcare in HMP Yarls Wood IRC. Potential bidders are requested to complete a brief questionnaire on the AGEM CSU Bravo portal PQQ ref 534 to give their views on the upcoming ITT. The questionnaire can be found on the following link; https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login and the closing date is 9 November 2018.

NHS England is also due to hold a market place event on 27/11/18 at 10.00 at Fulbourn, Cambridge – Interested bidders are welcome to attend and should make their request by emailing Bal Samra at balbir.samra@nhs.net by 23/11/18.

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Environment Agency consultation on assessing and scoring permit compliance

This consultation sets out proposed changes to how we assess and score permit compliance so that we carry it out in a way that is more consistent, clear and proportionate. It also explains how we use the findings of an assessment and what we record on the Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) form. The consultation describes how we use scores from compliance assessments to generate annual subsistence charges for waste operations and installations.

For more information, click here

2. Update on sector guidance S5.06 and S5.07

Advice on indicative standards of operation and environmental performance for industrial sectors.

For more information, click here

3. Public sector organisations can submit an innovation challenge for the GovTech Catalyst round 3

The £20 million GovTech Catalyst (GTC) Challenge Fund, awarded via competitions for research and development funding, provides support to define, develop, test and access creative solutions to complex public sector problems in the UK.

The initiative supports public bodies to raise public sector challenges to the technology sector, inviting tech firms to put forward solutions. Successful candidates will receive funding to work up their ideas, and at the end of the process, public bodies will be able to buy the innovative products which have been developed.

Public sector organisations can now submit policy and operational challenges for the next GovTech Catalyst. Public sector challenge owners will benefit from the opportunity to explore creative solutions to their challenges.

Challenges must be the right size to respond to a feasibility budget of £50,000, and the solutions should be ready to buy with only £500,000 of further investment.

Any UK public sector body can submit a challenge, including UK central government organisations, Devolved Administrations and local public sector organisations.

For more details, click here

4. NHS Scotland and the circular economy

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Circular economy funding: Zerowaste Scotland

The Circular Economy Investment Fund is a funding opportunity for businesses and organisations in Scotland working in all business and social economy sectors.

Proposals are invited from:

• Small to medium sized enterprises (less than 250 employees/turnover less than €50 million)
• Non-profit organisations (charities and social enterprises)

Read more here

2. Webinar on ‘Opportunities and Challenges in Introducing Renewable Energy in the Health Sector’ (16 October, 2018)

This webinar will cover a spectrum of topics that revolve around renewable energy, including the renewable energy impacts and linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals, importance of energy in the health sector due to its crucial role in the cold chain and storage, the use of solar energy internationally and its impact on different sectors, and more.

To book, click here

3. Government launches review of the implementation of SDGs within organisations

The UK Government recently launched its first voluntary review into how the nation’s business community is contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read more here

4. Green GB week

Read more here

5. Clinical waste disposal tender: Nottinghamshire County Council

Value of contract: £245k – £343k

Published date: 26 September 2018

Closing date: 29 October 2018

Contract start date: 07 January 2019

Contract end date: 06 January 2024

Description

Nottinghamshire County Council (The Council) as Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) is seeking to make arrangements for a contractor to receive, treat and dispose of approximately 70 tonnes of Clinical Waste collected by the district councils (Waste Collection Authority or WCA) within Nottinghamshire per year. The Council, as WDA, has a statutory duty to make suitable arrangements for the disposal of household and commercial waste collected within its area by its constituent WCAs including home generated Clinical Waste.

Contact name: Jamie Burton

Address

County Hall,
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 7QP
England

Email: corporate.procurement@nottscc.gov.uk

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. NHS waste backlog

A criminal investigation has been launched and support measure put in place after a backlog of medical waste including body parts was allowed to build up at six UK disposal sites.

It emerged on Thursday that the waste from hospitals had not been disposed of in a timely fashion by contractor Healthcare Environmental Services.

Read more here

2. Workshop on waste classification

The Group will be hosting a workshop on waste classification on the 15th November 2018, in Sheffield. For more details and to book, click here

3. CIWM to sell its HQ as part of restructure

Trustees of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) have approved a new medium-term business plan which includes a “new vision and structure” in the face of a currently “unsustainable” model.

The aim, said the CIWM, is to strengthen its “core role as the professional membership body” for the resources and waste sector and to return the CIWM Group to financial surplus in the short-term “after a challenging period in recent years”.

The actions from the business plan are likely to include some job losses as well as staff redeployment and will also see the sale of the Institution’s offices in Northampton, with a consequent move to more modern office premises in the town.

Read more here

4.  Waste Management & Minimisation Service tender: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Description of contract:

Provision of domestic, general and miscellaneous waste management and monitoring services. To include but not limited to:
(i) Waste collection
(ii) Waste minimisation
(iii) Segregation
(iv) Reuse
(v) Recycling
(vi) Treatment and disposal
For all general, domestic and miscellaneous waste generated by the Authority utilising means which minimise environmental impact and maximise cost savings.

Value of contract: £200k – £1.0m

Published date: 19 September 2018

Closing date: 25 October 2018

Contract start date: 01 February 2019

Contract end date: 31 January 2024

Contact name: Gail Bowman

Address

Gervas House
Long Leys Road
Lincoln
LN1 1EJ
United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 1522421539

Email: gail.bowman2@ulh.nhs.uk

5. Invitation to Tender Provision of Household Clinical Waste Services: Tendring District Council

Description

Tendring District Council is the waste collection authority for the area for which it is the District Council. We are inviting bids for the above contract scheduled to commence on 1 January 2019.

If you would like to be considered for this contract please follow the link in this notice to our website where all the relevant documents are listed under “Opportunities” . Please also see the last page of the specification where details of the deadline for submissions and how to submit your quotation are stated along with a deadline for any clarification questions.

Value of contract: £25k

Published date: 21 September 2018

Closing date: 19 October 2018

Contract start date: 01 January 2019

Contract end date: 31 December 2021

Contact name: Procurement

Address

Town Hall
Station Road
CLACTON-ON-SEA
CO13 0JE
England

Telephone: 01255 686955

Email: procurement@tendringdc.gov.uk

https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/business/doing-business-council

Please use the above link to access all relevant documents under the heading ‘Opportunities’ and note the last page of the specification where details of the deadline for submissions and how to submit your quotation are stated along with a deadline for any clarification questions.

The healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Supporting EU staff in the NHS

In this podcast Caroline Waterfield from NHS Employers explores the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) and what employers in the NHS can do to support their EU staff.

To listen to the podcast, click here

2. Workshop on waste classification

The Group will be hosting a workshop on waste classification on the 15th November 2018, in Sheffield. For more details and to book, click here

3. NHS and PHE footprint for the English NHS and healthcare system

4. CIWM launches Health and Safety campaign

Individual awareness and behaviour change is at the heart of a new CIWM health and safety (H&S) campaign that was recently launched. Spearheaded by CIWM’s Health, Safety & Wellbeing Special Interest Group (SIG), the aim is to get CIWM members to question their own approach to health and safety and to encourage them to consider H&S issues on a daily basis as part of normal operations.

View details here 

5. EU mandatory content requirement for plastics possible

With the UK likely to adopt the EU’s Circular Economy measures in its forthcoming Waste and Resources Strategy, Jeff Cooper reports on a European event which also heard that mandatory recycled content for plastics could become an EU requirement.

For more information, click here

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1.The Sustainable Health in Procurement Project (SHiPP) Inception Workshop report

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) have officially launched the new Sustainable Health in Procurement Project (SHiPP) Inception Workshop Report.

Funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), SHiPP aims to reduce the harm to people and the environment caused by the manufacture, use and disposal of medical products and by the implementation of health programs.

To view the report, click here

2. Workshop on waste classification

The Group will be hosting a workshop on waste classification on the 15th November 2018, in Sheffield. For more details and to book, click here

3. Toolkit to ‘drive value’ in procuring waste services

A new toolkit, produced by Ricardo and sponsored by waste and recycling specialist SUEZ, provides UK local authorities a blueprint for creating waste service procurement strategies that drive contractors to deliver high performance, innovation and value for residents.

To view the toolkit, click here

4. The Healthcare Sustainable Purchasing Index (HCSP)

The HCSP Index is a cloud-based solution providing healthcare systems and their suppliers with powerful analytics to accelerate the contracting and purchasing of products that deliver on clinical outcomes, cost savings, and positively contribute to the health of their communities and the environment.

For more information, click here

5. Cooling the London Underground to power Islington’s heating network

The Metropolitan Integrated Cooling and Heating (MICAH) project, funded by Innovate UK looks into the feasibility of transferring waste heat from London Underground to Islington Borough Council’s district heating network.

The lead participant in the project consortium is the London Underground Ltd, whose network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2016–17 carried 1.379 billion passengers, making it the world’s 11th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day. The London Underground (LU) team work alongside the London Borough of Islington (LBI), with academic and research expertise from London South Bank University (LSBU).

Read more here

The Healthcare Waste and Resources Research Group

1. Join the Health Care Climate Challenge

Launched in 2015 at the Paris Climate Conference, the Health Care Climate Challenge is a Health Care Without Harm initiative to mobilise health care institutions around the world to play a leadership role in addressing climate change. Today more than 175 institutions representing the interests of over 14,000 hospitals and health centres from more than 24 countries, have joined the Health Care Climate Challenge and committed to taking meaningful action. To learn more about the Climate Challenge please click here

2. Workshop on waste classification

The Group will be hosting a workshop on waste classification on the 15th November 2018, in Sheffield. For more details and to book, click here here

 3. Enter the Circulars 2019

Whether you’re a multinational demonstrating innovation in its existing business, an early-stage organisation at the vanguard of this exciting movement, a public sector body that is disrupting business as usual, or using technologies to enable the circular economy, the Circulars are for you.

For more information and to enter, click here

4. CleanMed Europe

CleanMed Europe is Europe’s leading conference on sustainable healthcare. The conference addresses the environmental impact of the healthcare sector on a local, regional, and global level and is organised by Health Care Without Harm Europe and Radboud University Medical Center. CleanMed Europe 2018 will take place from 10 -12 October in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Read more here.

5. Report on needles in municipal solid waste

Needlestick injuries are a serious risk to waste industry workers, especially in MRFs where sorting recyclables on picking lines and similar activities can put employees in contact with sharps and, as a result, blood borne pathogens. Historically, exposure to these materials and the rate of incidences associated with them at MRFs has not been well documented, though it has been suggested anecdotally in the industry that the rate has increased in recent years.

The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) conducted a joint research project to determine and address the issue of needlestick injuries at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in the United States and Canada.

Down load the report here