Single-Use Plastic Removal – Next Phase

Following the Government announcement that single-use plastics – including plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene trays – will be banned from October 2023, NHS England (NHSE) has produced their new catering consumables ‘how to guide’.

See our Useful Links section for a link to the Government announcement in full and the NHSE guide, accessible via the Central Commercial Function (CCF) Hub on the ‘FutureNHS’ portal.

The guide outlines some easy steps that trusts can take to switch to reusable catering consumables.

A switch from single-use sets to a reusable type could save the average NHS hospital 50-100 tonnes CO2e a year, equivalent to around 185,000 car miles, and could mean potential savings of £30,000 per year. The guide includes support on switching to reusable catering consumables and guidance. 

See our Downloads ▼ section to view the our own Single-Use Plastics Alternatives Brochure. We are working with our Procurement teams to update this in line with the announcement – however, a wealth of sustainable alternative products are still available to order.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Announcment

In line with the announcement made by Defra on Saturday 14 January 2023, we will be implementing some fundamental changes to our Catering Equipment and Consumables framework imminently.

We continue our work to support the reduction of avoidable single-use plastics in the NHS and are committed to ensuring that the product range available is fit for purpose, now and in the future.

Over the next few weeks, we will be working closely with our framework suppliers and NHS England to ensure that we are prepared to manage a smooth transition and provide support for trusts as we see these products come to the end of the product lifecycle.

If you have any feedback on the products you would like to see included within the range, or have a particular product concern you would like to discuss please contact our Hotel Services team.

Hotel Services Support

• hotelservicessupport@supplychain.nhs.uk

See our Downloads ▼ section to view the current Single-Use Plastics Alternatives Brochure.

You may find some of our products and disposal methods are currently out of date, however, we are working on an updated version in line with the Defra announcement.

As part of the NHS’s drive to become net zero by 2045, one of NHS Supply Chain’s sustainability priorities is the ongoing commitment to reduce the use of plastics in the products we supply to NHS trusts.

NHS Supply Chain: Hotel Services team has been focusing on this over the last 18 months by reducing the number of plastics including our range of expanded polystyrene (EPS) products available on the Catering Consumables and Equipment framework.

From February 2023 the team plans to take the big step of removing several single-use plastics (SUP) in the range ahead of anticipated legislative changes.

This change will affect some key categories including all EPS products, all plastic cutlery, and some food packaging.

We are removing these products in February ahead of expected legislation changes. The reason for this is to prepare the market to ensure our suppliers have capabilities to deliver the changes and so NHS trusts have sufficient time to provide feedback on the proposed changes and product alternatives.

NHS Supply Chain: Hotel Services will provide specific details of all the affected products in due course, currently estimated for mid-December.