Hospital canteens will slash their amount of plastic as part of an NHS ecological drive to reduce waste being dumped in oceans and landfill.
Health chiefs have vowed to scrap more than 100million single-use plastics by phasing the material out from its catering operation and on-site stores.
But signing up to the pledge is voluntary and environmental campaign groups – while hailing the positive step – are urging more action.
Boots, Greggs and M&S are among the retailers that have swung behind the campaign and pledged to remove ‘avoidable plastic’ from their hospital outlets.
Straws and stirrers will be axed from their branches April 2020, with cutlery plates and cups phased out over the following 12 months.
Hospital canteens will slash their amount of plastic as part of an NHS ecological drive to reduce waste being dumped in oceans and landfill (Springfields Medical Centre pictured)
Straws and stirrers will be axed from retailer’s branches April 2020, with cutlery plates and cups phased out over the following 12 months
NHS England has asked the country’s 228 NHS trusts – which govern hospitals – to match the retailers’ pledge.
But these local bodies are not forced to sign-up to this national plastic-cutting campaign.
Yet many have already been ramping up efforts to expunge their plastic footprint by stocking glass bottles and fitting water fountains.
Last year the NHS bought at least 163million plastic cups, 16million pieces of plastic cutlery, 15 million straws and two million plastic stirrers.
NHS England said if the health service can cut its use of catering plastic in half, it could mean more than 100million fewer items each year being used.
Boots (left) Greggs (right) and M&S are among the retailers that have swung behind the campaign and pledged to remove ‘avoidable plastic’ from their hospital outlets.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: ‘It’s right that the NHS and our suppliers should join the national campaign to turn the tide on plastic waste.
‘Doing so will be good for our environment, for patients and for taxpayers who fund our NHS.
How much waste ends up in landfill?
Every day, millions of us drop a plastic bottle or cardboard container into the recycling bin – and we feel we’re doing our bit for the environment.
But what we may not realise is that most plastic never gets recycled at all, often ending up in landfill or incineration depots instead.
Of 30 billion plastic bottles used by UK households each year, only 57 per cent are currently recycled, with half going to landfill, half go to waste.
Most plastic never gets recycled at all, often ending up in landfill or incineration depots instead
Around 700,000 plastic bottles a day end up as litter.
This is largely due to plastic wrapping around bottles that are non-recyclable.
Every year, the UK throws away 2.5 billion ‘paper’ cups, amounting to 5,000 cups a minute.
Shockingly, less than 0.4 per cent of these are recycled.
Most cups are made from cardboard with a thin layer of plastic.
This has previously posed issues with recycling but can now be removed .
Five specialist recycling plants in the UK have the capacity to recycle all the cups used on our high-streets.
Ensuring the paper cups end up in these plants and are not discarded incorrectly is one of the biggest issues facing the recycling of the paper vessels.
‘We’re pleased that as a first step, major retailers operating in hospitals have committed to cut their plastics, starting with straws and stirrers, cutlery, plates and cups.’
Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: ‘Across the NHS, nurses, midwives and other frontline staff are providing great leadership on environmental issues and championing sustainability where they work.
‘Support from local NHS organisations to sign the pledge and cut use of catering plastics will need all NHS staff to take action in their own areas and encourage their employers to go further faster.’
NHS England said many parts of the NHS are already tackling single-use plastic.
The Yorkshire Ambulance Service is saving around four tonnes of plastic waste each year after a campaign to remove it from the staff canteen.
The trust replaced plastic milk bottles with glass, plastic cutlery with wood and plastic drinks bottles with cans.
It also introduced a water refill point. Meanwhile, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has removed more than half a million single-use plastic items from its canteens, including 227,000 pieces of cutlery and 231,180 cups.
Julian Kirby, Friends of the Earth plastics campaigner, said:’It’s great to see the NHS committing to reducing pointless plastic.
‘The key is for throw-away items like plastic cups and stirrers to be replaced by reusable items, and for things like water fountains to be much more common.
‘But we shouldn’t be relying on voluntary schemes and cash-strapped hospitals to get rid of the pointless plastic in our public spaces.
‘We urgently need a comprehensive plan from government and support to make it happen.’
Helen Bird, of sustainability charity Wrap (the Waste and Resources Action Programme), said: ‘It’s positive to see the NHS taking action to turn the tide on plastic waste, removing plastic items where they do not make sense for the environment, and looking for alternatives to materials which are not recyclable, like expanded polystyrene cups.
‘It sends a strong message to the public and suppliers to the NHS; our throwaway culture will become a thing of the past.’