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Sustainability

The most sustainable component in a surgical pack is the one that was never put in it.

HomeSustainability

Theatre sustainability is usually discussed as a recycling problem. It is not. The waste hierarchy is unambiguous, and both the Green Surgery Report and the Royal College of Surgeons place reduction well above recovery: preventing waste beats processing it. Published theatre-waste studies consistently find a significant proportion of procedure pack contents opened and discarded without ever being used.

That is where Vitalex starts. We right-size packs against real preference-card data so that fewer items are produced, shipped, sterilised, opened and disposed of in the first place. It reduces carbon, it reduces clinical waste volume, and it reduces cost per procedure, the three things that almost never move in the same direction.

Then we close the loop. What does leave theatre is separated properly and recovered through verified pathways, and you receive documentation you can actually submit. We do not make environmental claims we cannot evidence, and we do not present recycling as a substitute for using less.

Our Sustainability Commitments

Reduce by design

Pack specifications built to eliminate unused items, reviewed at least annually.

Recover what remains

Two-stream segregation and verified recovery through Biffa and PHS Group.

Evidence everything

Recovery data traceable to waste transfer notes issued by the collector, not estimated by us.

Source near-shore

European and UK manufacturing to keep transport emissions and lead times low.

Claim honestly

No environmental statement published without a documented basis.

Waste reduction by design

Right-Sizing: the Part Most Suppliers Skip

A standard pack is designed for the average of many procedures, which means it is wrong for most of them. Items are opened and set aside. Other items are missing and fetched separately, breaking flow and adding time to the list. Everything opened becomes clinical waste whether it touched the patient or not.

We review your preference cards, or observe a list directly, and record what is genuinely used. The specification is then rebuilt: components removed, components added, sizes corrected. The pack that arrives matches the procedure, and the waste bag gets noticeably lighter.

Published theatre-waste studies consistently show significant unused-item waste across procedure packs. Right-sizing is the direct, auditable response.

What right-sizing delivers

Less waste at source

Fewer items opened means less clinical waste generated per procedure, the highest-value intervention in the waste hierarchy.

Lower cost per procedure

You stop paying for components that go into the bin unopened.

Faster set-up

A pack laid out in procedure order with nothing surplus is quicker to lay up and check.

Better preference-card discipline

The review process itself surfaces outdated cards that no longer reflect current technique.

Reportable improvement

Before-and-after component counts give a defensible, auditable reduction figure specific to your theatre.

GreenCycle

Verified Two-Stream Waste Recovery

Two bins. One certificate. No additional procurement.

Every procedure pack generates two entirely different kinds of waste, and under HTM 07-01 they are supposed to be separated at the point they are generated. In practice, most theatres put both into a single clinical waste bag, which means recyclable outer packaging is incinerated at clinical waste cost.

GreenCycle fixes this with two clearly labelled bins at the scrub area and a written protocol. No training sessions, no workflow redesign, no change to what your team does clinically. The cost of both collection streams is included in the Vitalex supply agreement.

Bin 1 — Non-Contaminated Packaging

Contents

Outer poly films, rigid trays, cardboard, non-woven covers. Never patient-contacted.

Classification

Not clinical waste under HTM 07-01.

Collected by

Biffa

Destination

Polymer recycling into rHDPE and rPP. Non-recyclable residual to energy recovery.

Documentation

Biffa waste transfer note issued per collection.

Bin 2 — Clinical Waste

Contents

Used drapes, gowns, gloves and swabs. Patient or blood contact.

Classification

Orange bag waste under HTM 07-01.

Collected by

PHS Group

Destination

Alternative treatment, sterilised and shredded, then energy recovery.

Documentation

PHS waste transfer note issued per collection.

The GreenCycle Certificate

After each collection cycle we issue one combined certificate drawing on verified collection data from both Biffa and PHS Group. It reports weight diverted from landfill, CO2e saved against an incineration baseline, energy recovered, and the waste transfer note references for both streams. Issued monthly or quarterly depending on your volume, with the first certificate within six weeks of the first collection.

It is prepared in the format required for NHS Green Plan Scope 3 Category 5 reporting, the NHS Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment and integrated care board tender evidence, so your sustainability team submits it rather than rebuilding it.

What the certificate supports

NHS Green Plan — Scope 3 Category 5

Waste generated in operations, using supplier-specific collector data rather than spend-based estimates.

NHS 20:20:60 waste segregation targets

Correct separation of non-contaminated packaging from orange and yellow bag streams directly supports the offensive-waste target most trusts are furthest from.

Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment

Evidence of sustainable business activity and supplier engagement.

Social value weighting in tenders

Fighting Climate Change is a compulsory theme, and waste reduction scores directly against it.

Environmental Protection Act 1990 duty of care

Waste transfer notes issued by both collectors for every cycle.

An honest note about what this certificate is

The GreenCycle Certificate is supplier-provided evidence. It is built from waste transfer note data issued by Biffa and PHS Group, and it maps onto NHS-mandated reporting frameworks under PPN 006 and the GHG Protocol supplier-specific method.

It is not an NHS document and it has not been endorsed by NHS England or any NHS body. It is designed to complement your own reporting and assurance processes, not to replace them.

Vitalex Ltd is registered with the Environment Agency as an upper-tier waste broker (CBDU658530). Waste is collected, transported, and treated by licensed carriers and permitted facilities; the waste producer's duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 remains with the producing organisation.

What Could Your Theatre Recover?

Enter your annual procedure pack volume to see an indicative estimate of the non-contaminated packaging that could be diverted from your clinical waste stream, and the disposal cost difference that represents. The method behind these figures is published below in full, we would rather show you the arithmetic than ask you to trust a number.

Defaults to £617 per tonne if left unchanged.

Estimated annual result
175 kg of packaging divertible per year
£97 estimated annual disposal cost difference

For NHS trusts, this diversion figure feeds the NHS Green Plan Scope 3 Category 5 return and the 20:20:60 waste segregation target once verified on your GreenCycle Certificate.

Verified CO2e and energy recovery figures are issued per collection cycle on the GreenCycle Certificate, because those come from the collectors and cannot be estimated here.

Published Methodology

Non-contaminated outer packaging per procedure pack is taken as 150 to 200 grams, comprising poly wraps, rigid tray and cardboard insert.

Clinical waste disposal is costed at £617 per tonne and dry mixed recycling at £60 per tonne. Both figures are stated as assumptions, reviewed 2 August 2026, and are user-editable above.

On that basis, 1,000 procedure packs represent approximately 175 kilograms of divertible packaging, and a disposal cost difference of approximately £97.

The output is an indicative estimate based on packaging weight assumptions, not a measurement of your waste. Actual figures are confirmed by weight on your GreenCycle Certificate once collections begin.