An eco-friendly campaign to cut emissions, waste and costs has earned us a national environmental award.
We are delighted to have received a Bronze award from Investors in the Environment after a concerted green initiative.
Investors in the Environment (iiE) is a national environmental accreditation scheme designed to help organisations reduce their impact on the environment.
Our sustainability lead Ann Staniland said the hospital had made wide-ranging changes to its practices and procedures to achieve the iiE award.
Ann, who is a practice administrator here at WMR, explained: “It has been a year-long commitment to create and implement a new eco-friendly policy to reduce our environmental impact.
“We’ve been measuring and monitoring electricity, gas, water and waste to meet our target of achieving a cut of 2 per cent.
“A waste management system has been established, with waste now carefully segregated into general, recycling and food waste.
“Clinical waste is also being separated, while battery and toner cartridge recycling has been introduced.
“We’ve even created a bird and bee-friendly garden, collected shoes for charity re-use and introduced our very own upcycling corner.”
The iiE’s audit of WMR’s new practices was very positive and stated: “The iiE awards are recognition of organisations that have met a high-level of environmental criteria and targets, followed by an official auditing process.
“West Midlands Referrals have certainly made an excellent start at improving their environmental impact and this bronze award recognises WMR’s commitment in helping to set the standard for the environment.
“WMR’s Green Group has demonstrated an excellent commitment and enthusiasm to improve the organisation’s environmental performance.
“They have implemented a detailed environmental policy with action plans to reduce key resource usage, a waste management plan and regular communication to increase staff engagement with sustainability.
“The practice has also undertaken multiple environmental and social projects to enhance the local environment and help those in need.”
The Investors in the Environment annual audit consists of an assessment of five key areas of an organisation’s Environmental Management System (EMS). These include:
- Environmental policy
- Resource management and monitoring
- Progress against targets
- Action planning including social/environmental projects
- Communication
WMR specialises in providing expert treatment in cases requiring orthopaedic surgery, spinal surgery, soft tissue and general surgery as well as medical and ultrasonography cases.
