St Andrew’s Healthcare has taken a giant leap forward in reducing its carbon footprint by signing up to a major environmental initiative.

Championed by the charity’s interim CEO Jess Lievesley, the hospital has joined the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) environmental commitment just weeks after the COP26 UN Climate Change conference in Glasgow.

Having signed up, St Andrew’s has now committed to the IHPN’s pledge of achieving net zero emissions by 2035 and a net zero supply chain by 2045.

Jess said: “St Andrew’s Healthcare is committed to managing its environmental impact in an ever-increasing sustainable way. We will be doing this through many areas, including patient and staff awareness with a real focus on waste and recycling, improved energy efficiency and making the best use of technology, where financially viable, so we can deliver efficiency and reduce environmental emissions.

“We employ nearly 4,000 people at St Andrew’s and we all have a responsibility to do our bit. Joining the IHPN means we have publicly committed to reducing our carbon emissions as a charity and we’ll be setting out how we expect to do this in the Green Plan document that we’re currently working on.

“Even before we signed the pledge, St Andrew’s had already been taking steps in reducing our waste and looking at news ways that we could become a more sustainable charity.”

Figures released by St Andrews’ Energy Manager Guy Bowden has shown that in just a year staff have reduced their total emissions by nine per cent and now nearly 95 per cent of the hospital’s general waste is recycled which makes a significant difference.

In the same time period, the charity has avoided sending more than 1,000 tonnes of waste to landfill, thereby saving more than 36 tonnes of CO₂ through its downstream waste emissions.

Guy said: “The charity has recently invested in projects and technology to increase its energy efficiency such as LED lighting, movement sensors, enhanced building management system strategies and swimming pool covers which will help to reduce our environmental impact.”

“In addition, in the last year alone we’ve planted more than 100 sapling trees within our grounds, we’ve refreshed our cycle-to-work scheme and launched an energy awareness training module for all staff which has been well-received.”

The charity also utilises the most effective ovens currently on the market for its food production and a project to use the least amount of single use products, such as coffee cups and disposable cutlery, is underway.

For more information about the IHPN, click here.