Why were the NHS and private hospitals given an additional two years to comply with the new workplace recycling rules, yet the social care sector, including care homes were not?
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
| Answered on 29/04/2024
It is hospitals specifically that have been given an additional two years to prepare for the workplace recycling regulations. This is due to the additional complexity of bringing the regulations into force in specialist clinical facilities such as operating theatres. Recycling and waste produced by any third-party undertakings on a hospital premises, for example newsagents or cafes or coffee shop franchises, are however covered by the separation requirements. The ban on sending food waste to sewer also applies to hospitals.