Circular economy

About the project

Hunter New England LHD are committed to supporting the circular economy which is a process of reusing waste and making it into new materials. The John Hunter Hospital have pioneered plastic recycling at scale in healthcare since 2022.

Project details

The overarching goal is to create projects which work toward some of the key targets set by the NSW Government Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041, such as:  

• tripling the plastics recycling rate by 2030
• achieving an 80 per cent recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030.

Our District’s sustainability champions organise collections across specific units. This includes operating theatres, wards, labs, and clinics, which is turned into local products. We then buy these products back, where possible.

Our sustainability champions are the reason why these projects are successful. They invest a lot of time and effort in supporting waste segregation, plastic recycling, and the circular economy.

Some recycling streams are a temporary measure, while we continue to explore reusable options. 

Project outcomes

Since launching the project in 2023, John Hunter Hospital has saved 18 tonnes of plastic from going to landfill every year, and reduced:  

• 12 tonnes of soft plastic including sterile wrap, plastic wrap and Intravenous (IV) bags.
• 6 tonnes of hard plastic including fluid bottles, baby bottles, pathology plastics, breathing circuits, needle caps, and plastic packaging.

You can learn more about the products our plastics have been reused in.