11 Nov 2020
Veterinary group is trialling zero-waste boxes for personal protective equipment at 130 of its largest sites in the UK.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
VetPartners sustainability manager Hannah James and Kelly Mann, practice manager at Beechwood Veterinary Group in Leeds, with a TerraCycle box.
VetPartners has launched a major environmental project at 130 of its largest sites by trialling zero-waste boxes for used PPE.
The boxes are provided by TerraCycle – a company that specialises in hard-to-recycle waste including PPE masks, gloves and aprons worn by clinical team members when treating patients.
All PPE not contaminated with animal or pharmaceutical waste can be recycled as part of the scheme, and is collected and quarantined for 72 hours to ensure it is safe.
Materials such as plastic and metals can be reprocessed into furniture, garden accessories and playground equipment, with paper and organic fibres that can’t be reprocessed turned into compost.
If the trial is a success, it will be rolled out to more of the group’s practices to help them recycle their PPE.
VetPartners sustainability manager Hannah James said: “To protect our colleagues and clients, we’ve strengthened our PPE policies in practices. While this reduces the risk of COVID-19 transmission, it unfortunately means that we’re using an increased amount of disposable PPE, which can’t be recycled in standard recycle bins.
“To tackle this issue, we’ve sent practices a TerraCycle Zero Waste box, which they can use to recycle the PPE. When items of PPE are disposed of via general waste bins, they’re either incinerated or sent to landfill. When they go into a Zero Waste box, they’re sent to TerraCycle.”
Dr James added: “The initial response from practices has been really positive. Lots of vets and nurses had been contacting us with concerns about the environmental impact of using so much single-use plastic, and they were pleased to hear that it will now be recycled.
“Many people at VetPartners are incredibly passionate about sustainability, so I think the Zero Waste boxes will be well received.”
VetPartners is launching a wider sustainability strategy at the end of the year to reduce the amount of waste it produces and ensure more is recycled in the next five years.
