SPONSORED STORY. Clinical waste and washroom service provider Sanaway has introduced new reusable and recyclable sharps containers as part of its auditable ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ service commitment.
The new containers are reused 10 times before being recycled into new reusable sharps containers and form part of Sanaway’s ongoing focus to reduce environmental impact for both the company, and its nursing and residential care home customers.
The container’s VisiLOCK system also optimises safety by eliminating the risk of content spills that may lead to cross-contamination or accidental needlestick injury.
The family-owned business operates across the South of England, servicing customers that demand a reliable, personal and high standard of service at a competitive price.
Co-founder and director Patrick Martin says: “We are exceptionally proud of our environmental philosophy and commitment, which has been at the core of the company since day one.
“Providing the new reusable sharps service is now standard for all our customers, and at no extra cost. This not only demonstrates our dedication to help minimise the impact our industry has on the environment, but can also help customers achieve up to an 87 per cent carbon saving. This being in line with the NHS’s targets for a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2026.”
Reduce, reuse and recycle
Each sharps container has a VisiLOCK closing mechanism to ensure optimum user safety. Once full:
- The containers are collected by Sanaway and delivered to the processing facility.
- A robot opens and photographs the contents before the sharps are incinerated and the containers are then sanitised and recovered.
- The sharps containers are thoroughly checked before being returned for reuse.
- Containers are tracked using barcode scanning to monitor their usage cycles, after 10 uses, the container is granulated and remanufactured into a new sharps container.
- This process is repeated 10 times, meaning the original plastic is reused 100 times.
- After completing 10 full cycles, the plastic is granulated again and repurposed into non-medical products, such as road traffic cones.
Sanaway’s Zero Waste to Landfill philosophy is a market leading standard, based on Energy from Waste (EFW) technology, which means it is a sustainable solution for both waste management and energy production. Some 99.995 per cent of the process is recyclable and all the recyclable elements are removed before the incineration process leaving only 0.005 per cent non-recyclable.
The company’s auditable Zero Waste to Landfill service diverts all of the 50 plus tonnes of waste the company collects from its customers every year from landfill, and contributes towards the power supply for more than 50,000 homes. The company’s ISO 9001 accreditation also gives added peace of mind from a day-to-day management perspective, providing a benefit for nursing and residential care homes with ISO 14001 certification, enabling them to fulfil their continuous improvement requirements.
Commenting on the new service, Martin concludes: “We believe considered improvements like these to our customer first, high service standards are the main reason many of our clients have been with us for so many years, contributing to our enviable 95 per cent customer retention rate and year on year growth.”
For more information visit www.sanaway.co.uk or call 0345 094 9495.
