South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) is committed to reducing waste and minimising it's carbon footprint. The recycling of useful assets is part of SWSLHD’s strategy to implement environmental sustainability across the organisation.
While the donation of equipment no longer in use has long been a practice in SWSLHD, staff expressed concerns that the process was complex and inconsistent. A stakeholder group was formed to explore solutions; they found that a model used by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom contained features that would meet the needs of SWSLHD.
Repurposing items no longer in use
The Waste Action Reuse Portal (WARPIT) website works by allowing staff to list items that are no longer in use, mainly furniture, for other staff to claim. Items are then displayed in a similar way to e-bay, making it easy for staff across the district to browse items available for reuse. The WARPIT software also allows staff to list equipment so that charities can review available items and claim them for use. It's functionality was expanded to allow sharing of assets among sites and services throughout the entire district, increasing potential to divert waste from landfill, reusing equipment rather than purchasing new.
In a large district with six hospitals and numerous services, WARPIT is a centralised external platform that allows staff who otherwise would ordinarily have little connection to exchange equipment. Staff can register for WARPIT by accessing a link on the SWSLHD Intranet Sustainability page and registering. The Sustainability Manager, acting as site manager, approves their use of the site. Staff are encouraged to register and consider for use as they asses their equipment requirements.
Inspired by overseas success
WARPIT was the only simple web-based system that fitted SWSLHD’s requirements and required no alterations for use, aside from modifying the terms and conditions to meet NSW Health policy. The project lead met with the administrator of the University of Queensland WARPIT site, where they discussed its success, how they rolled it out and what they would have changed. This helped SWSLHD to develop a roll-out plan and marketing plan.
The initial project was a state-wide biomedical version of WARPIT, which was accepted by the NSW Health Biomedical Managers Committee, launched and subsequently approved at the biomedical managers meeting in February 2020. However, the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restricted time commitments of biomedical managers meant the website was not being utilised. The system was rebooted to be a SWSLHD wide website in June 2020.
65 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill
In the two years SWSLHD has been using WARPIT, the system has allowed for the repurposing of $53,000 worth of assets within the district, diverting more than 65 tonnes of waste from landfill.
WARPIT has also assisted in the streamlining of donations, including useable medical equipment no longer needed by hospitals and services. SWSLHD has used the site to facilitate more than $217,000 of medical assets to charity group Rotary Medishare, for redistribution to developing countries.
The WARPIT program is also set to expand within south western Sydney. Planned activities include:
- engaging with an educational charity to take furniture and other office assets
- SWSLHD connecting with Men’s Sheds to take assets such as bookcases to refurbish for their projects.
SWSLHD led a submission with the NSW EPA Sustainability Partners 2023-24 grants program to expand WARPIT to other LHDs but was unsuccessful. However, NSW Education and Transport have purchased WARPIT in late 2023, and SWSLHD will partner with them to promote more reuse of equipment.
