Recycling non-hazardous waste on a daily basis can reduce the amount of trash that goes to landfills, in turn greatly helping the environment.
A new recycling pilot programme was launched at selected sites in Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City to reduce the amount of waste in landfills, Hamad Medical Corporation [HMC] has announced.
The Waste Wise programme aims to change habits and behaviours related to recycling in Qatar by encouraging staff, patients, and visitors to use the state-of-the-art bins to recycle paper, aluminium, plastic, and other waste across its sites.
The new initiative falls in line with the Qatar 2030 National Vision commitment towards environmental sustainability, taking a step forward to reducing the general and medical waste sent to landfills in the country every year.
HMC’s Chief of Healthcare Facilities and Acting Chief of Business Services Hamad Al Khalifa said the institution’s goal is to reduce general waste by 10 percent this year and over 15 percent by November 2022, with the first phase only including selected areas in HMC.
“As part of meeting this goal, for the first phase of this four-phase programme, we have installed bins in selected areas of HMC. By the start of the World Cup in 2022, patients and visitors can expect to find these innovative bins in all of our facilities.”
Medical waste has significantly increased since the introduction of modern medicine. However, 85% of the medical waste generated by healthcare activities globally is general, non-hazardous waste that can be recycled, according to the World Health Organisation [WHO].
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The corporation installed bins in high-volume areas, including lobbies, reception, cafeteria, staff designated areas, and visitors/ or patient areas to make it easier and more accessible for the community to recycle. This system enables HMC to monitor how much is being recycled each month across different locations.
“As we continue to roll out the programme across HMC, we are asking our community to help us reach these waste reduction goals and deposit their waste in the appropriate bins,” Al Khalifa added, encouraging the community to embed recycling into daily responsibilities.
An awareness campaign is also being offered by HMC to educate staff and visitors about what can be recycled, how to use the bins and what can be done to help be more environmentally sustainable.
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