Healthcare produces 7% of Australia’s total carbon emissions. As the largest healthcare provider in NSW, Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) is taking ambitious climate action, aiming to become carbon and waste neutral by 2030.
HNELD manages 6 major hospitals across the Hunter region, with facilities spanning from Tenterfield all the way to Lake Macquarie.
“It's really important for large organisations like ours to lead by example and uphold the principal of do no harm,” says Elissa Klinkenberg, HNELHD Sustainability Program Manager.
“We understand that 25% of people come to hospital because of environmental factors. So, how can we better ourselves to start decreasing that?”
By turning to more clean and green practices, HNELHD has reduced its overall carbon footprint by 31%. Change has been possible by adopting a holistic approach across the organisation, including in energy, waste, water, transport, procurement and infrastructure.
A win-win for health and the planet
Being sustainable, while maintaining a high standard of affordable patient care can be a significant challenge. However, HNELHD is proving that change is possible even in a complex setting like a hospital.
“People often think that sustainability costs more money, whereas we've been able to prove that it's actually more efficient,” says Elissa. HNELD has reduced its carbon footprint by 31%, while saving over $3 million.
Powering hospitals with the sun
“John Hunter Hospital has the largest solar array on any hospital in the world,” says Elissa, “accounting for 12% of the hospital’s total energy requirement.” Solar provides a fifth of HNELD’s total energy use across 40 health facilities.
“Health will always take priority. We don't want to be seen as putting solar panels on roofs and taking away from emergency doctors. What we've been able to show through our solar and LED lighting installations, is that sustainability saves us money. And we've been able to redirect that back into frontline services.”
See the energy and emissions savings on HNELD’s live solar dashboard.
Empowering staff to take action
These infrastructure projects are supported by staff behavioural change programs with staff teams across the district driving down emissions by launching their own green projects.
“Critical care generates a lot of waste, energy and water, and NICU is no different. We are a bit of a carbon hotspot,” says Justine Parson. Justine is a Clinical Nurse Consultant in John Hunter Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and one of 300 staff Sustainability Champions.
“Single use items are our biggest problem in the NICU. We were putting around about 100,000 plastic baby bottles and 85,000 plastic nappies into landfill each year. We were horrified and had to do something about it.”
The NICU team developed a recycling system to divert its baby bottle plastic waste from landfill and switched from plastic nappies to compostable bamboo, which takes much less time to break down in landfill.
Another initiative was to repurpose 49 idle incubators that were intended for landfill.
“The bulk of them went to Nigeria which has the highest newborn mortality rate in the world,” said Justine. ”A lot of that is because they don’t have the equipment they need. So having our equipment taken overseas to a new life and being able to provide good care, being able to find that pathway has been great.”
Waste reduction initiatives such as these have contributed to an 18% reduction in HNELHD’s total landfill waste.
Treating waste in NSW generates about 4.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Sustainability – A critical part of patient care
Justine reinforced that the sustainability champions don’t see environmental care as optional, despite having to overcome several barriers.
“It hasn’t always been easy. It requires a lot of educating, a lot of talking. Just suggesting we could recycle baby bottles meant we had to liaise with infection prevention and control and work health and safety and bring everyone together to be able to get changes through.”
“But, once you know what the carbon footprint is, it can’t be ignored. You have to strive towards doing it better. Particularly for our patients. These newborn babies are going to be around for a long time, with any luck.
“If we can impact the trajectory of climate change in this country, it can only be better for our patients. It’s not just an adjunct to our role as healthcare providers, it’s actually integral to patient care.”
Initiatives across HNELD
Similar initiatives are being driven by staff and trialled across HNELD looking at all aspects of clinical care, waste recycling and energy savings.
A pilot initiative in switching off a single CT scanner overnight at John Hunter Hospital was found to reduce power use by about 32%, or 7,280 kWh a year, saving almost $1,400 and reducing emissions by 5,500 tonnes. There are roughly 115 scanners in NSW hospitals, and numerous radiology providers across the state, representing significant opportunities to save energy costs and reduce carbon emissions, without compromising on patient care.
Learn more about how HNELD is delivering sustainable health care.
It all adds up to net zero
“My advice to others is to find like-minded people to help you because you can’t do it all on your own. From there, find one project and do it well and get it done. And then another. Get a few wins on the board and do it just one step at a time,” says Justine.
“Just when something seems absolutely unattainable, you have a few wins and get some things happening. Staff are encouraged and motivated to go on that journey and make changes. But it also motivates me to make more changes and look for other ways we can get better, because there’s still a lot of work to do.”