Community launches wide-scale recycling
Community Medical Centers is the first hospital network in the region to institute wide-scale recycling at its facilities for its 6,000 employees and visitors.
Community Regional Medical Center launches the effort the fourth week in January with 75 to 100 recycling bins placed throughout the hospital in break rooms and the cafeteria to collect newspapers, magazines, glass, plastic and aluminum cans. The effort will be rolled out eventually to every Community facility, said Kevin Corcoran, director of environmental services.
Recycling was a widespread request from employees, but past attempts had failed because of costs or convenience, Corcoran said. But he’s worked out a contract with Community’s shredded waste paper hauler to include recycling of other materials without extra costs. Corcoran said disposal companies, handling the same shredded paper waste for other hospitals in the region, say Community’s recycling effort is a first in the area.
Twice a week, a waste disposal company collects shredded paper documents in accordance with federal patient privacy regulations; at the same time it will also empty recycling bins and transport items to recyclers, Corcoran explained. Corcoran said he’s also working on ways to recycle used light bulbs and batteries.
Nancy Cardwood, manager of customer service and an employee satisfaction program, praised Corcoran’s efforts. “In the past people were told ‘No, no, no,’ but Kevin figured out a way to do it easily and for no additional cost.”
Corcoran said he’s more excited about another recycling effort to reuse “sharps containers,” the plastic receptacles used to collect and dispose of needles.
Community Regional is installing new recyclable sharps containers throughout the hospital. Another disposal company will be coming in three times a week to collect full containers, dispose of the contents, sterilize the containers and then return them to the hospital. The new sharps containers can be sterilized and reused about 300 times before they need to be replaced, Corcoran said.
“We stand to save 10 tons of plastic a year from going in a landfill,” Corcoran said. “Plus we’re saving about 38% of our annual purchasing costs on sharps containers.”
Community also saves money on disposal costs, Corcoran added. The emptied, sterilized plastic containers can eventually be melted and reformed with regular plastic waste rather than being treated as hazardous medical waste, which is much more expensive to dispose.
Corcoran said the best part of recycling the sharps container is safety. “With the disposal company coming in three times a week to monitor it will be safer. We won’t get the accidental sticks that can happen with over-full containers,” he said. “The end result is we can worry less and focus more on patient care.”
This story was reported by Erin Kennedy. She can be reached at ekennedy@communitymedical.org.