Queensland Children’s Hospital– a collective call to action that has driven a hospital recycling revolution and sustainable reform during a pandemic.

Renae McBrien¹

  ¹Children’s Health Queensland, Queensland Children’s Hospital 501 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, 4010.  renae.mcbrien@health.qld.gov.au

This oral presentation will showcase the environmental performance at Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service that has fostered positive staff culture change and championed sustainable and socially responsible reform over our procurement, transport, waste and food systems.

This presentation will visually demonstrate a hospital waste revolution that has diverted over 491000kg of waste in 2021, into an advanced modular recycling program that segregates hospital waste into 37 single recycling streams.  During the waste burden of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, our focus on waste reform has not been diminished, as we  have achieved a 12% increase in diversion from landfill to recycling since 2019.  Children’s Health Queensland now has an overall 44 % diversion rate from landfill rate, which is the highest recycling rate across Queensland Health.

Children’s Health Queensland is rethinking waste through infection management and prevention consultation to overhaul commingle or mixed recycling to build a modular single stream recycling waste system.  We hold waste in its highest value form for as long as possible and all staff segregate our hospital waste into single recycling streams to become ‘a la carte’.   This has achieved both financially and environmental sustainability through waste diversion and has generated over $500 000 in savings or rebates in 2021.

Our sustainable waste management and procurement projects allow the environmental science to influence our clinical practise.   We have actively reduced single use products from our procurement and clinical practise and through key stakeholder consultation, we have established robust infection control processes and clinical criteria to drive reusable products and equipment where clinically appropriate.

This presentation will provide an opportunity to share the successful implementation of The Children’s Health Queensland Environmental Sustainability Plan during a pandemic.