Our Managing Director, Tracey Sopp, recently spent time with our waste team to see how they manage the wide range of waste generated across Cumbria, Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). From reusable sharps bins to clever machines that shrink food waste, the visit showed how small changes can make a big difference.

You might be surprised to hear that we deal with 20 different types of waste – with their own legal checks, staff training needs, and each requiring a clear plan from the moment it’s created to where it ends up. Tracey heard how the team see rubbish as s resource waiting to happen, rather than simply an inconvenience, and want others to see it that way too.

Our waste includes recycling and food waste, but also more unusual items like vapes and lighters, which need special handling. We also produce WEEE – waste electrical and electronic equipment – and general waste is anything left over at the end.

Our challenges are a bit different to other parts of the NHS. Acute trusts might produce large volumes of clinical waste on a few sites, but CNTW generates smaller amounts across lots of locations.

We work with ten waste contractors to do this safely and efficiently – and none of our waste goes to landfill. Anything that needs incinerating goes to modern waste-to-energy plants, where it helps generate electricity.

Tracey heard how putting the wrong waste in the wrong bin can be bad for the environment, costly, and even dangerous. Items with batteries, for example, have caused fires when processed incorrectly.

She got hands-on during the visit, trying out the dewatering machine that removes water from food waste. It can turn 900kg of food waste into just 50kg – a big win, as we’re charged by weight, so we’re planning to roll this out more widely.

Tracey also had a go on the compactor, which crushes waste to reduce the need for collections and save money. We’re now looking at options to compact recycling too.

One of the highlights was a spot-check audit on a random bag of rubbish. It was weighed, sorted, and weighed again after removing items that shouldn’t have been there. Most of it could have been recycled or didn’t belong in general waste at all. A perfectly usable pair of curtains was rescued and sent to the laundry – a great example of why these checks matter.

Our waste team isn’t really a team as such, it is people drawn from of our wider Facilities teams, including Domestics and Porters, who play a huge role. They are backed up by our waste experts, Martin Laing and Elaine Barkley, but really, the team includes all of us. Everyone who puts the right thing in the right bin is helping.

We’re working to make it clearer what waste goes where, and any help people can give is hugely appreciated. Most of us don’t think about what happens after we throw something away, but Tracey saw first-hand that it’s a complex process – and when we get it right, the benefits are massive.