Welsh company announce plans to counter hospital waste in Europe

Thermal compaction technology developed in Wales could help reduce plastic waste from Dutch hospitals.

Thermal Compaction Group (TCG) has entered into a joint venture with Dutch sustainability firm Greencycl. The deal will see the firm's Sterimelt technology potentially used across hospitals in the Netherlands and Europe.

Sterimelt is a machine that melts polypropylene sterilisation materials, such as surgery drapes and tray wraps, into plastic briquettes that can be re-used. As well as reducing waste and saving money, the system also helps reduce carbon emissions by an average of 65%. Because Sterimelt technology removes all contamination, the resulting plastic can be re-used in a wide range of products, the company says.

Sustainability is an increasingly important priority for the health service in the Netherlands, with 8% of all CO₂ emissions in the Netherlands produced by hospitals with each patient resulting in seven bags of waste on average.

Majid El Mortadi, Greencycl co-founder says, ‘The urgency with which we need to tackle the problem of single-use plastic waste in the health service cannot be overstated. Hospitals are a big consumer of single-use plastic items, and because of the contamination risk, these products have previously gone to landfill.

Managing Director of TCG, Philip Davison-Sebry, explains, ‘Our Sterimelt technology has revolutionised the treatment of hospital waste, allowing it to be de-contaminated and compressed into sterilised blocks that can be re-used for a wide variety of applications. The benefits to hospitals are numerous, from reducing waste and environmental impact to generating considerable cost savings and creating new income streams.’