title: A non-participant observational study of health and social care waste disposal behaviour in the South West of England.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The National Health Service in England has a large carbon footprint. Waste production and disposal contributes to this carbon footprint and costs the National Health Service England over £82 million per annum. This study builds on existing work regarding health care waste management in the United Kingdom where the potential for recycling has begun to be studied. The study focuses on a private hospital and social care organizations, and provides a more detailed study of the behaviour of individuals across a variety of waste management systems.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was an overt observational study at four health and social care sites in the South West of England. Systematic observations were made of the waste disposed of by employees in which the observer recorded: a description of the waste item; the bin into which the waste was placed; the type of employee who disposed of the waste; the material the waste comprised and the appropriateness of the disposal behaviour.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The domestic waste bin was found to be most commonly used by employees to dispose of waste (51%), and the materials observed being disposed of most often were paper (26%), organic wastes (19%) and plastic (19%). There were significant differences between the four sites indicating that the activities performed at each site may have been influencing the waste being disposed of.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that the transfer of waste from the domestic waste stream to the recycling waste stream should be a central focus for the design of new health and social care waste management systems. Employees will require guidance and training in identifying and classifying waste materials for recycling.
authors.affiliation: Researcher, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth University, UK.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manzi
authors.affiliation: Lecturer in Nursing Studies, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth University, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.affiliation: Professor of Health Service Research, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth University, UK janet.richardson@plymouth.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008506:Medical Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000068217:Social Workers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D008506:Medical Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal
keywords: health care; non-participant observation; social care; waste management