Seenons x Flevo Hospital: 50% Reduction in Residual Waste by 2025

After a thorough waste scan, Flevo Hospital decided to collaborate with us from March 2022 onwards. Overall, healthcare contributes to 7% of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands*, and waste management is a major culprit. In us, Flevo Hospital found a partner that offers an efficient solution for reducing residual waste. Additionally, support on the advisory level should lead to awareness and behavioural change among hospital staff. During a six-week test period, five separate streams were created from one large residual waste stream. The result of this pilot is a reduction of nearly 75% in residual waste. The pilot was conducted in a specific department within the hospital. After this pilot’s success, many more departments will follow. The goal is to process the materials circularly from all 27 waste streams in the hospital and give them a new life.

In general, surgery rooms in Dutch hospitals produce about 1.3 million kilos of clinical waste*. This is a pity, as this waste contains valuable materials that can be reused. One of the largest waste streams, plastic, has been spared from incineration since our collaboration. Five full containers of plastic of 20m3** are now recycled annually and processed into new products. And this is only the beginning.

‘’At Flevo Hospital, we have always prioritised sustainability, and waste is an important part of that. Our ambitious goal is to reduce all residual waste by 50% by 2025. Since collaborating with Seenons, we are well on our way. The support that Seenons provides at the advisory level for management and staff is valuable. This helps us work as effectively as possible towards our goal. We hope to inspire other hospitals to reduce residual waste as much as possible. Hospitals can contribute significantly to reducing the mountain of waste," says Meindert F. Engwerda, head of procurement and logistics.

photo credits: Loes Nooitgedagt

Joost Kamermans, co-founder and CEO of Seenons: "We are very proud of how we work with Flevo Hospital. In a very short time, we have been able to reorganise several waste streams. By offering the possibility to separate and process the waste from the surgery rooms into new products, we are already making a huge positive impact together. We strive to go a step further, such as bringing the recycled products back to their original place in the hospital – like Tork paper towels in the restrooms. That's what we do it for: helping organisations move towards a waste-free world."

Soon, we will determine together how the source separation and processing can be implemented for the remaining waste streams in the hospital. Closing the loop is the ultimate goal. Currently, there is also a test with paper tissues: new tissues are made from the used tissues from Flevo Hospital.

*Source: TU Delft researchers Bart van Straten and Tim Horeman
**Source: Waste scan Seenons x Flevo Hospital