This paper examines strategies for improving recycling behaviour within the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS). Using quantitative (questionnaires and waste bin analyses) and qualitative (ethnography and interviews) methodologies, the study examined the waste management practices of staff from the Cornwall NHS. It was found that employee participation in waste recycling at work was low due to a range of factors including NHS focus and policies, group norms, and individual attitudes and beliefs about sustainable waste management. Recommendations for improving the sustainability of NHS, employee waste management practices, with a specific focus on recycling are included in the paper. These recommendations include measures focused towards both the NHS organization and individual staff members.
Barr, S., Gilg, A.W. & Ford, N.J. (2001) A conceptual framework for understanding and analysing attitudes towards household waste management. EnvironmentalPlanning A, 33, 2025—2048.
2.
Barratt, J., Chambers, N., Cherrett, N., Jenkin, N., Lewis, K. & Vergoulas, G. (2004) Material health: a mass balance and ecological footprint analysis of the NHS in England and Wales. Best Foot Forward Ltd., Oxford, UK.
3.
Brio, J.A. & Junquera, B. (2003) A review of the literature on environmental innovation management in SMEs: implications for public policies. Technovation , 23, 939—948.
4.
Clarkson, P.A., Adams, J.C. & Phillips P.S. (2002) Third generation waste minimisation clubs: a case study of low cost clubs from Northampton-shire, UK. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 36, 107—134.
5.
Cornwall County Council (2001) Waste arisings in Cornwall: an assessment of future needs. Cornwall, UK.
Da Silva, C.E., Hoppe, A.E., Ravanello, M.M. & Mello N. (2005) Medical wastes management in the south of Brazil. WasteManagement. 25, 600—605.
9.
Denzin, N.K. (1989) The Research Act (3rd edn). Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
10.
DOH (2006) Safe Management of Healthcare Waste: a Public Consultation. HMSO. London.
11.
Ferreira, A.P. & Veiga, M.M. (2003) Hospital waste operational procedures: a case study in Brazil. Waste Management & Research, 21, 377—382.
12.
Fincham, R. & Rhodes, P.S. (1994). The individual, work and organization: behavioural studies for business and management. (2nd edn). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
13.
Gamba, R.J. & Oskamp, S. (1994) Factors influencing community residents' participation in commingled curbside recycling programs. Environment & Behavior, 26, 587—612.
14.
Holtman, C. (1992) Key challenges for public service delivery. In: Willcocks L. & Harrow J. (eds.): Rediscovering Public Services Management , pp. 84—109. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
15.
Kruger, D. (2002) End of the NHS? In: Prospect, November 2002, p. 42. Centre for Policy Studies, London, UK.
16.
Mohammadi-Baghaee, D. (2000) Principles of Medical WasteManagement (1st edn.). Shaharab Co. Tehran.
17.
NHS Estates (1997) Healthcare Waste Management: Segregation of Waste Streams in Clinical Areas, Healthcare Technical Memorandum 2065. HMSO, London.
18.
NHS Estates (2000) Healthcare Waste Minimisation: a Compendium of Good Practice. HMSO, Leeds.
19.
NHS (2000) The NHS Plan: a Plan for Investment, a Plan for Reform. HMSO, London, UK.
20.
NHS Estates (2001) Sustainable Development in theNHS. HMSO, UK.
21.
NHS Estates (2002) New Environmental Strategy for theNHS. HMSO, UK.
22.
ONS (Office of National Statistics) (2007) UK population census data for 2001. available at www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001.
23.
Phengxay, S., Okumura, J., Miyoshi, M., Sakisaka, K. & Juroiwa, C. (2005) Healthcare waste management in Lao PDR: a case study. Waste Management & Research, 23, 571—581.
24.
Phillips, P.S., Holley, K., Bates, M.P. & Freestone, N.P. (2002). Corby waste not: an appraisal of the UK's largest holistic waste minimisation project. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 36, 1—31.
25.
Rayner W. (2003) The management of healthcare waste in the community . Paper delivered on January 30, 2003, at the TechnoCentre , Coventry University Technology Park. UK.
26.
Robbins, S.P. (2000) Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Prentice Hall.
27.
The National Health Service (NHS) (2005) http://www.nhs.uk/thenhsexplained.
28.
Tonglet, M., Phillips, P.S. & Read, A.D. (2004) Using the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the determinants of recycling behaviour: a case study from Brixworth, UK. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 41, 191—214.
29.
Townend, W.K. & Cheeseman, C.R. (2005) Guidelines for the evaluation and assessment of the sustainable use of resources and of wastes management at healthcare facilities. Waste Management & Research , 23, 398—408.
30.
Tudor, T.L., (2005). Your waste or mine?: it's a question of ownership . In: Proc. of RGS-IBS Annual International Conference. `Flows and spaces in a globalised world'. London, UK.
31.
Tudor, T.L. (2006) An Examination of the Influencing Factors and Policies for Sustainable Waste Management: A Case Study of the Cornwall NHS. PhD Thesis. Department of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources. University of Exeter. Exeter. UK.
32.
Tudor, T.L., Noonan, C.L. & Jenkin, L.E.T. (2005a) Healthcare waste management: a case study from the Cornwall NHS, UK. WasteManagement, 25, 606—615.
33.
Tudor, T.L., Barr, S.W. & Gilg, A.W. (2005b) The role of sustainability within service delivery in the National Health Service in Cornwall (UK). In: Proc. of the ISWA 2005 World Congress and Exhibition. `Towards Integrated Urban Solid Waste Management'. November 6— 10. Buenos Aires , Argentina.
34.
Vining, J. & Ebreo, A. (1992) Predicting recycling behaviour from global and specific environmental attitudes and changes in recycling opportunities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 1580—1607.
