SEPT PROCUREMENT GOING GREENER

From April 2013 South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation trust (SEPT) will be implementing a ‘green-switch’ on its stationery procurement in order to meet the high standards set within its Sustainable Development Management Plan & Implementation Framework and take further steps to being a Good Corporate Citizen. SEPT will be the first NHS Trust nationally to implement this approach.

This means an automatic switch is being instigated across all of the Trust’s stationery orders, thereby ensuring SEPT is procuring the most sustainable/ low carbon product available.

In total over 375 products will be part of the product switch and include everyday items such as pens, notepads, paper, pencils and toner cartridges which will now be a remanufactured item. Extensive trials with the SEPT’s IT Department together with a number of high-use teams in Thurrock Hospital and across the West Essex locality have been running for over six months to evaluate the quality of the remanufactured toners. These trials have been extremely successful and the remanufactured cartridges are comparable in both coverage and quality to originals.  Additionally the toner manufacturer has provided the Trust with written guarantees to pay for any servicing or replacement costs of any printer due to toner failure to give us added reassurance.

SEPT Chief Executive Dr Patrick Geoghegan said “The Trust’s Executive Team is fully supportive of this initiative, as not only will it significantly reduce our Carbon Footprint but it will also reduce the Trust’s stationery costs by over £37,000 per annum”.

 ENDS