Benchmarking Review leads to opportunities to increase recycling and reduce costs at Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust

Having initiated some excellent on-site solutions including installing a “Zero to Landfill” policy and some robust internal collection processes, the Trust were struggling to understand why their recycling rates were relatively low. They were also looking at implementing additional solutions to increase the re-use of material produced as waste streams across their whole portfolio of buildings.  

SOLUTION  

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) engaged i-Clean Systems to undertake a recycling and waste benchmarking review that would report on all aspects of recycling and activity across the facility; this included an evaluation of the entire current service provision, inclusive of: process analysis, assessment of console configurations within the buildings and investigation into end of life solutions.  

RESULT  

The benchmarking review, which appraised every aspect of the recycling and waste processes and protocols across the building portfolio, including all costs, waste streams and end of life solutions, provided evidence and actions so that GMMH are now able to plan a strategy for the future and move forward.  As part of their report i-Clean Systems were able to produce a list of about 20 innovative next step strategies and solutions that will help the organisation move up the waste hierarchy. These strategies are specific to the buildings and environment in which the Trust operates. They take account of changing bin configurations, introducing additional stream collections and increasing engagement with the circular economy, which will fundamentally increase recycling and reduce costs. Quick win solutions and others that need a more long-term approach were included in these strategies. Improved methods of reporting and data collection also formed a key part of the outcomes. Savings should exceed 20% of the annual budgets across the sites and this represents a return on the investment with i-Clean Systems Limited.  "Our engagement with i-Clean Systems represented a very radical approach to reviewing our recycling and waste issues and position. The guarantee offered against cost reduction reduced the risk and exposure of the Trust to further costs. We can now implement many of the strategies and ideas that i-Clean have put forward to drive change and create a greener environment for our customers, staff and visitors to our numerous facilities."  Ian Hankinson - Head of Facilities  

ABOUT GREATER MANCHESTER MENTAL HEALTH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST  The Trust provides a wide range of services in the treatment and recovery of mental health conditions and substance misuse across Manchester and the North West of England. The care includes inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in the region. The Trust employs around 4,750 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 130 locations. Over a 12-month period, we see in the region of 53,000 service users. The business of GMMH is managed by a board of directors. The board work closely with the council of governors, who provide local accountability by representing the interests of members and partner organisations.