North Yorkshire: New bins for recycling medical equipment installed

New bins for recycling medical equipment will be installed across York and North Yorkshire.

People will be encouraged to drop off items such as crutches, walking frames and bed levers, the council said.

The bins will be available at household waste recycling centres from Monday and donated equipment will be reused.

Councillor Derek Bastiman said "perfectly good medical equipment does make its way into domestic waste" and he wants to change this trend.

Wendy Balmain, from NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said unreturned equipment costs the health service hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.

She said: "We warmly welcome the new drop-off points at household waste recycling centres, it should make it much easier for people to return equipment that's no longer needed so it can be cleaned and checked over and then reissued to someone else in need of support."

North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council teamed up with provider Medequip to launch the initiative.

Steve Smith, regional manager at Medequip, said: "Supplying community equipment to ensure residents can live independently is extremely important, from a wellbeing perspective and for everyday safety.

"Vital equipment also supports our NHS with hospital discharges, so people can return to their home environment with equipment in place to help with daily living."

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