Amsterdam, Thursday, May 19 – After conducting a critical waste analysis, the Dutch hospital Flevo Hospital decided to collaborate with Seenons as of March this year. Seenons provides an IT solution to businesses striving for a zero-waste world. The healthcare sector contributes 7% to the Netherlands’ CO₂ emissions in total*, with waste management being a significant factor. Flevo Hospital has chosen Seenons as a partner to offer an efficient solution for reducing residual waste. Furthermore, advisory-level support is aimed at increasing awareness and encouraging behavioral changes among hospital employees. During a six-week pilot, one major residual waste stream was divided into five separate streams across different departments. This pilot has already resulted in a nearly 75% reduction in residual waste. The objective is to process all 27 waste streams in the hospital circularly and repurpose the materials.
Operating rooms alone generate approximately 1.3 million kilograms of medical waste* annually. This waste contains valuable materials that can be reused. Since the partnership with Seenons, one of the largest waste streams, plastic, has been diverted from incinerators. Five full 20m³ containers of plastic** are now recycled and turned into new products every year. And this is just the beginning.
‘’We have always prioritized sustainability in the hospital, and waste plays a significant role in this. Our ambitious goal is to reduce all residual waste by 50% by 2025. Since partnering with Seenons, we’ve made significant progress. The advisory support from Seenons for management and staff is invaluable, helping us work as effectively as possible toward our goal. We hope to inspire other hospitals to reduce residual waste as much as possible. Hospitals, after all, can make a significant contribution to reducing the overall waste mountain,” says Meindert F. Engwerda, Head of Procurement and Logistics.
Joost Kamermans, co-founder and CEO of Seenons, adds, ‘’We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Flevo Hospital. In a very short time, we’ve restructured several waste streams. Simply offering the option to separate waste from operating rooms and process it into new products already creates a mountain of positive impact. We aim to go even further, such as eventually bringing recycled products back to the hospital where they originated – like Tork paper in the restrooms. That’s what we strive for: helping organizations transition to a zero-waste world.’’
Seenons and Flevo Hospital will soon determine how source separation and processing can be implemented for the remaining waste streams in the hospital. Closing the loop is the ultimate goal. A trial is already underway with paper tissues, where new tissues are made from used tissues from Flevo Hospital.
Photo credit: Loes Nooitgedagt
