Sustainable Design, Planning

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Sustainable Design, Planning Building
AwardExcellence in the Environment Awards
Community Sharps Project
Nicole Buhagiar
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Objectives

• Committed to maintaining a safe, clean
  environment for community
• To reduce the number of syringes found in
• councils parks gutters throughout the LGA
• Avoid hazardous waste entering the waste stream,
  including recycling or garden
• waste services
• Minimise the risk to workers/sorters at the
  Material Recovery Facilities (M.R.Fs)

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Waste Service

• Councils waste service includes
• 120 ltr Domestic bin
• 240 ltr Recycling bin
• 240 ltr Garden Waste bin

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Rationale

• Project was influenced by a general concern from
  the community to ensure
• - that council provide adequate medical waste
  disposal options for those in need
• - that council respond quickly to hazardous
  waste carelessly disposed of in gutters parks
• Concerns were also raised from recycling
  processors that medical waste was filtering into
  recycling bins creating OHS issues at their
  plants

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Rationale (Cont)

• An education campaign instigated in response to
  these claims. Council recognised that Diabetes
  Australia had for many years informed its clients
  that used syringes, lancets pen needles could
  be disposed of through the rubbish bin.
• This created additional concerns for council as
  residents learnt to differentiate between rubbish
  recycling services

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Rationale (Cont)

• Council has an established Sharps Disposal Scheme
  in partnership with local chemists and the
  community. This partnership has been extended
  to include the Wentworth Area Health Service
  providing opportunity to expand the current level
  of service to residents.

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Implementation

• Recognize key stakeholders
• -residents diagnosed with medical
  conditions requiring at home treatment
  their families
• -local pharmacies
• -Wentworth Area Health
• Councils medical waste service includes
• - 12 pharmacies across the LGA. Sharps
  containers are provided to each pharmacy and
  are emptied monthly (or as required) by Clinical
  Waste Australia and paid by council

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Implementation

• 2 Community Sharps Disposal bins
• These bins provide residents to comfortably
  dispose of medical waste in a private environment

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Implementation (cont)

• Increased the awareness of community to dispose
  of medical waste appropriately by distributing
  brochures, promoting through councils Annual
  Reports and Quarterly Magazines to all 59,000
  households. Information available
• on councils website.
• Program is linked to Councils City Plan and our
  commitment to support the Waste Avoidance and
  Resource Recovery Strategy (2003)

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Achievements

• Council has achieved a zero tolerance of medical
  waste found in recycling and garden waste streams
  in the last two years.
• Residents pro-actively advise council when they
  have medical waste, keen to dispose of properly
• Community Sharps bins have enabled residents to
  dispose of medical waste in a private
  environment.
• Intend to further expand the program by providing
  another 2 Community Sharps Disposal bins in
  prominent positions.
• No community backlash to the bins

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Challenges

• Insist on disposal of medical waste appropriately
  by all residents
• Community Sharps bins do not become a haven for
  dumped rubbish.
• Provide clean product to end users.

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Conclusion

• Council believes that the initial consultation
  with the community, local businesses and Area
  Health Services paved the way for a successful
  medical waste disposal scheme in Bankstown.