Page 14 - ANZCP Gazette November 2021

RECYCLING FOR PERFUSIONISTS
Queensland Children’s Hospital – South Brisbane
Over the past two years recycling and repurposing hospital wide have really taken off with huge efforts made in our Cardiac Theatre that I thought were worth sharing in the hope of inspiring others.
As perfusionists we have many daily opportunities to recycle – a large amount of the packaging that our consumables arrive in, right down to our used hats! It adds time and effort, but I think it’s well worth it and we have now become used to it in our daily practice.
We have noticed a big increase in recycling of soft plastics as well as our empty PVC fluid bags that are returned to Baxter for recycling (this can be significant especially in cases with long cell saver usage.)
We have taken extra time to remove bungs and left-over fluid from bottles such as Sodium Bicarbonate and Calcium Chloride and these are then recycled in the glass recycling collection.
There are currently no State mandatory recycling rules for our Hospital – but we are progressively committing to improving our performance in this space with excellent results.
Some Fast facts of recycling and other great programs in QCH:
• Staff Community Garden on level 6 provides QCH staff with fresh herbs and produce all year round.
• Staff Worm Farms for onsite composting on level 6.
• 11 tonnes of organic waste diverted to Ipswich Compost site in 2020
• 2 tonnes of clinical and operational metal recycled each month at QCH
• Grand total of 357, 000kg recycled in 2020
• QCH now has a massive 35 single stream recycling programs.
• 150 m3 or 3 shipping containers worth of expired consumables and equipment diverted through our Donations in Kind program.
• CHQ has directly supported the following medical groups with our donations since 2020.
o Cheshire Disability Services PNG
o Business for Health Initiative which runs TB testing and now incorporates COVID testing and prevention
o Obstetric and Gynaecology unit at Port Moresby General Hospital
o Provincial Health Authority which provides ALL health care services to the Central Provence (PNG)
Happy recycling!
Carla Zazulak CCP, FANZCP
11 NOVEMBER 2021 | www.anzcp.org