tacles and hanging signage that displays the items that should be
recycled.
Understand the rules. A key aspect of getting a recycling pro-
gram off the ground is knowing what's recyclable and what isn't
— which varies depending on your individual waste vendor. "I've
learned that even if an item is marked recyclable, your vendor may or
may not have the capability or the market to recycle that item," says
Ms. Barman. "We found that out through a few meetings with our
waste vendor representative. Based on those consultations, nurses
and techs received educational tools and information about what they
can and cannot recycle.
Always look for additional opportunities. It was during meet-
ings with the waste vendor that Ms. Barman found out the ven-
dor was able to recycle plastic wrap. Meriter OR staff began saving
plastic wrap for recycling by placing it in a large hamper provided by
the vendor. When a bag is full, it's tied off, letting the evening house-
keeping staff know it's ready to be moved to a designated spot on the
hospital's loading dock.
The results were mind-blowing. "After three months, I did the math
on how many of the big bags we had gone through, and a friend
who's a math teacher helped me determine the area of it," says Ms.
Barman. She calculated the plastic wrap they collected over three
months would have filled 157 garbage trucks.
Challenge vendors. Ms. Barman was frustrated she couldn't
recycle the Styrofoam trays in her facility's custom packs, even
though the trays had recycling numbers on them. A process
improvement engineer suggested Ms. Barman talk to the vendor who
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