A GREEN-friendly health trust is recycling more waste than ever before as it launches a new campaign around taking pride in its buildings.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is calling on its staff, patients and visitors to continue Love Your Landscape.

As part of this, the Trust has ramped up efforts to recycle more general waste than it ever has.

Ian Thurgood has joined the Trust’s subsidiary company, NTH Solutions, as the environmental services manager to take a lead on encouraging more people to think green.

Ian has help from staff including hospital domestic Peter French who regularly empties the recycling bins – collecting one full cage of waste every day (pictured).

Ian said: “We have already so much to increase the amount of recycling taking place across the organisation.

“I’ve always said recycling should be the third priority – we need to reduce waste, reuse when we can and only then should we recycle.

“But when we do, we need to all make sure that we recycle when we can.

“A lot of work has taken place around improving the signage, making sure recycling bins are available in public areas and staff areas.

“Now we have Peter focussing on this, we are regularly collecting recycling and making sure bins are emptied quickly and any issues are resolved.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do as an organisation, but it is also providing a cost saving to the Trust.

“Staff and the public have responded very positively – we are recycling more than we ever have done. Thank you to everyone for their support.”

Ian has also rounded up a group of recycling champions across the organisation.

Staff nurse Elizabeth Webb is the champion in urgent and emergency care at the University Hospital of North Tees.

She said: “We now have recycling bins in the staff area which are being used regularly by all of the staff.

“Everyone is thinking green and we’re filling up a bin every day.

“It’s really important we all do our bit to help and I’d like to thank the team for their support.”