Earth Day: Invest in Green Innovation
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Each year we run an event in line with Earth Day celebrations, based on the theme set for the year. This year’s Earth Day theme was ‘Invest in Our Planet’.
The number of new sustainable products and services coming to market is increasing year on year, all that’s left to do is for these to be invested in within the right spaces. The NHS’s green agenda is stronger than ever before and needs to be at the forefront of these investments. So, to celebrate Earth Day we invited guest speakers from a range of companies offering innovative green products and services that could benefit the NHS.
Dan Scarbrough, Director, nZero
Our first speaker of the day was Dan Scarbrough, Director at nZero, a climate management platform that gives companies, cities, and communities the accurate emissions data needed to reach net zero. Dan’s presentation centred around the need for large firms and organisations to not only have access to accurate data, but to understand the data and how to use it.
“One of the biggest challenges we have found is that 90% of firms cannot measure their emissions correctly.”
He went on to talk through the differences in gaining data for scope one, two and three emissions, with scope three being the hardest to calculate. Dan explained how drastically underreported some emissions data can be within emissions, with some underreporting by as much as 225,000 kilograms.
“Understanding the energy intensity of your supply chain can be very, very challenging.”
“nZero’s solution gives you the opportunity to really track your emissions on a granular basis. Giving you the valuable data and understanding of your usage.”
Georgie Georgiades, Business Development Manager at ACETECH™
Next up, we had Georgie Georgiades, Business Development Manager at ACETECH, a global manufacturer of award-winning vehicle intelligence for emergency service fleets. Georgie kicked of his presentation with an explanation of how emergency fleet management is so crucial within NHS sustainability.
“An average NHS fleet of around 500-600 vehicles have 20 removable parts such as defibrillators, spine boards and stretchers which can be left at a scene. Meaning that they the driver has to return. Increasing fuel use.”
“We have moved from chunky three inch thick solar panels to millimetre thick panels that can easily sit on the roof of vehicles.”
Georgie then went on to speak about the ways in which emergency fleets have the opportunity to be made more sustainable, touching on vast improvements through recent years in areas such as solar power.
Finally, he spoke to our audience about the difference ACETECH’s solution-based platforms, such as their Eco-Run solution, can make to green fleets in the NHS. He also touched on the true investment which is often overlooked when moving to greener options.
View ACETECH overview here.
“Fleets are transitioning to electric and hydrogen in the strive for net-zero, and that’s a big move for corporations. Because you’re not just buying a vehicle, you’re buying an entire infrastructure.”
Ethar Alali, Founder and CEO of Automedi
Our final speaker was Ethar Alali, Founder and CEO of Automedi, who specialise in Circularity-As-A-Service, providing cradle to cradle circular micro economies for community care, hospitals, local authorities, and manufacturers. Ethar focussed his presentation on circular plastic economies and the lack of developments being made to push a comprehensive circular economy system.
“Unfortunately, wherever we look, there are millions of people talking but precious few actually doing anything.”
“In healthcare, typically a minimum of around 11.4 kilograms of Co2 is emitted per kilogram of plastics. And the NHS dispose of an average of 133,000 tonnes per year. ”
Ethar spoke about the high level of plastic consumption seen within the NHS and the huge level of emissions and pollution created from this usage, reaffirming the point that the climate crisis is also a health crisis.
Ethar then explained how Automedi help to facilitate a circular economy within plastics.
You can view Ethar’s presentation slide here.
“Our solution means the full circular economy falls under the control of the organisations that actually need them. It extends the full lifecycle of plastics from single use to the decades or centuries that these materials will actually be around for.”
This webinar discussed new innovative green products and solutions and their applicability to our healthcare system. Collaborative approaches and real investment are required for us to build a greener future for the NHS. If you would like more information or are interested in speaking on one of our future webinars, please do not hesitate to get in contact.