Cliniwaste is a new company in the UK’s clinical waste disposal sector with a combined 60 years of experience. Cliniwaste may be a new name but the team at the helm has a pedigree and an award-winning history in the disposal of clinical waste that needs to be told.
W.A.S. (Scotland) Ltd – 1997 – 2004
It all started back in 1997 with the creation of Waste Advisory Services (Scotland) Ltd (W.A.S.) by Cliniwaste Chairman David Wightwick. Very quickly W.A.S established itself as an organisation with a focus on innovation that is reflected in the numerous industry awards received. Not only that, this innovative mindset brought changes within the industry that are still relevant today. These innovations led to Stobhill Hospital not joining in with all other Scottish Trusts as part of the DERL contract for all Scottish clinical waste, in so making a strong statement that change was needed within the industry and the way waste was handled and disposed of.
W.A.S. pioneered the use of microwave technology to treat Scottish waste streams which culminated in the winning of two industry awards. Two ABB Sanitec units were installed in WAS’s Glasgow based facility for the treatment of non-incineration clinical waste, a first of its kind in Scotland.
The focus was set on training hospital staff on the importance of segregation at source, within the ward. Through various audits within various Scottish Trusts, it was deemed that nearly 50% of clinical waste within the ward was actually black bagged waste, being disposed of wrongly. The focus was then twin bins, clearly marked via colour coordination and training posters above the stations, helping staff define waste and its proper segregation, driving waste costs down for the Trust.
Another example of this innovation is the focus on waste segregation through colour coordination that started at Wishaw General Hospital in 2000. Serco awarded WAS the contract for complete waste management at the new Wishaw General Hospital in late 1999 and through the build process until the site opened in May 2001. A secure waste compound was built on-site for all waste streams and colour co-ordinated waste system, never before seen within the UK, where actual waste bins had colour-coded lids, highlighting the waste type at source, allowing all staff to easily identify the waste within the compound and within the Hospital itself. Wards also adopted the twin bin systems within the wards themselves, again compounding the need for waste identification and segregation at source, allowing the Trust to see real-time savings.
Ecowaste Group Ltd – 2004-2012
On the back of the sale of Waste Advisory Services, Ecowaste was formed in 2004 to provide NHS waste solutions from their base in Bristol. One of the directors at Stobhill Hospital had relocated to Bath Royal University Hospital and reached out to the former WAS team to move down South and implement the systems that had worked so well north of the border. Word began to spread and Ecowaste soon picked up multiple Trusts within the area along with over 500 Primary Care Trusts who all adopted the waste segregation ethos that we had became renowned for within the industry.
After continued expansion, Ecowaste was eventually sold in 2014 to SRCL. However, after the competition commission intervention, SRCL was requested to pass this business on, eventually becoming part of Tradebe’s infrastructure.
Cliniwaste – 2019 +
After the failure of Healthcare Environmental Services, Cliniwaste were engaged to deliver a solution for the purchase operation of HES facilities. Our experience within the industry and clean historical record with governing agencies assisted in this process.
The cleanup operation took almost 5 months to clear all 3 sites of stockpiled waste totalling more than 1,000 tons.
Moving forward, Cliniwaste is committed to investing in the UK’s clinical waste infrastructure, bringing transparency, new technologies, disposal capacity and an environmental mindset into the marketplace.