Toowoomba hospital tackles plastic problem

A hospital in Toowoomba will be one of the first in the country to embark on an innovative new project, which recycles and reuses medical waste to improve the facility’s environmental footprint. 

St Vincent’s has signed a historic agreement with Envorinex who have partnered with GreenMed through their ‘Keep me in the loop’ program.

Mission Executive at St Vincent's Private Hospital Toowoomba Dr Mark Copland said the agreement, which was prompted by theatre staff, is a significant milestone in the local healthcare sector.

“St Vincent’s Hospital is proud to be leading the way in recycling and repurposing waste to better our environmental outcomes as a whole.”

“This is a fantastic program developed by GreenMed and Envorinex who have partnered with Ability Enterprises and I’m excited to see the tangible outcomes as a result,” he said.

The collection and reprocessing of this waste will also support Ability Enterprise employing five new positions. 

Ability Enterprises CEO, Tracey Scanlan said the ‘Keep me in the loop’ program is a perfect example of a true circular economy which embraces the three pillars of sustainability, those being, social, environmental, and financial.   

“As a social enterprise with a 10-year history providing Waste Management services across the Toowoomba region, Ability Enterprises is proud to be a part of a project which will allow us to offer a greater range of employment opportunities to our staff,” she said.

Once collected from the hospital, the waste will be taken to Manufacturing partner Envorinex where it will be reprocessed into pellets and used for remanufacturing into products which can be repurposed at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Envorinex CEO, Jenny Brown said the healthcare sector is responsible for a huge volume of waste.

“Most of which has traditionally gone to landfill or deep landfill sites.”

“Our main focus right now is the problematic sterilisation wrap that is used to preserve the sterility of surgical instruments while in storage before use,” she said.

TSBE Health General Manager, Jaden Frame said the project is one of many initiatives that the Darling Downs Hospital Sustainability Group is proud to be a part of.

“The Darling Downs Hospital Sustainability Group is jointly chaired by the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE), with representatives from the three major hospitals in Toowoomba (St Vincent’s, St Andrew’s, and Darling Downs Health),” he said.

Mat Usher of GreenMed is encouraging other healthcare facilities in Toowoomba and the region to reach out to Envorinex or GreenMed for inclusion.

“We would love to hear from any other hospital, day surgery or pathology sites that would be interested in working with us to identify problem plastics and ways in which our ‘Keep me in the loop program’ could divert this resource away from landfill and into ongoing use as new products as we work toward preserving value, redesigning waste,” he said.