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WasteCare Corporation
WASTE REDUCTION & RECYCLING TIPS FOR NURSING HOMES
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Nursing home and home healthcare industries are in need of recycling and waste management programs due to the medical waste and disposal necessary for a properly run facility. Waste prevention eliminates waste before it is created.
“Sharps” and “Red bag” waste at nursing homes requires strict regulations that hospitals are aware of on a local, state and national level. “Red bag” material, which is specially handled and can be a high cost item for nursing homes, should always be managed as it has been in the past.
If you own or manage a nursing home or home health care community, you need to set up a recycling program for your tenants. Your recycling program should recover essentially the same materials that are recycled through the municipal program. Tenants will welcome the opportunity to recycle, just as many of them have been doing for years.
Recycling Tips
- Set up system where nursing home staff evaluate personal care items such as aspirin packets, tissues, shampoo, baby wipes and diapers for reuse (following infection control guidelines) instead of automatically disposing them.
- In the nursing home kitchen use washable plates, eating utensils, glasses and cups for cafeteria and client service.
- Set up a collection system, arrange to have items picked up for recycling, and educate staff.
These are items that are recycled in many nursing homes:
- Corrugated cardboard
- White office paper
- Newspapers
- Mixed paper
- Beverage containers (aluminum cans, glass bottles)
- Steel cans (used by food service)
- Plastics (work with suppliers so goods are made from or packaged with same plastic resin so they are easier to recycle)
- Provide or recommend appropriate recycling bins for newsprint and containers for cans, bottles and jars.
- Determine if tenants in the nursing home can leave recyclables on floors near service entrances or if they need to bring them to a central location.
- Coordinate collection of recyclables with regular trash collection.
- Designate a central area for collection of recyclable materials - in the basement, storage room or other common area. Interior locations must be equipped with working sprinkler systems.
- Send a memo, hold an open house or tour of your building's recycling locations, or have open hours when residents can pick up bins and recycling information.
- Educate residents about particular recycling procedures in your building. Clearly differentiate between tenant, building staff and management responsibilities.
- Include recycling information in your training for new building staff.
- Note that recycling will help introduce new tenants to owners and neighbors to each other.
- Encourage families of residents and visitors to get involved in recycling.
Waste Reduction Tips
You can help prevent injury, illness, and pollution by following some simple steps when you dispose of the sharp objects and contaminated materials you use in administering health care in your nursing home or home healthcare facility.
Fortunately, many waste prevention practices save money. Waste reduction, the combination of waste prevention and recycling efforts, makes sense for hospital nursing home staff and residents.
- Place needs, syringes, lancets and other sharp objects in a hard-plastic or metal container with a screw-on or tightly secured lid. Many containers found in the household will do, or you may purchase containers specifically designed for the disposal of medical waste sharps.
- Before discarding a container, be sure to reinforce the lid with heavy-duty tape. Do not put sharp objects in any container you plan to recycle and do not use glass or clear plastic containers
- Make sure that you keep all containers with sharp objects out of the reach of visitors such as children and/or pets.
- Soiled bandages, disposable sheets and medical gloves are placed in securely fastened plastic bags before you put them in the garbage can with your other trash.
- Renegotiate contracts with haulers of "red bag" or regulated medical waste to provide clean and reusable containers to the hospital. Again, “red bag” waste is subject to different regulations and should be not be treated as a recyclable material.
- Buy most cleaning substances in bulk. Use concentrated cleaning solutions that staff can mix up as needed.
- Set up a reuse area where nursing home residents can pick up used, yet still useful, items such as old binders, folders, paper clips, cassette tapes, plastic containers, etc.
Encourage all staff and residents at the nursing home to get involved in recycling and waste management. Not only does it create a healthier living environment but it also makes the Earth a better and greener place.