20/04/2026
💚 Greener AHP Week 2026 | Moulding Corporate Responsibility into Business as Usual in Occupational Therapy
In 2025, our Occupational Therapy (OT) team asked an important question:
How can we reduce waste and carbon impact in splinting - without compromising patient care?
Thermoplastics used in hand splints are often labelled single‑patient‑use, but they’re not single‑use. These low‑temperature plastics can be safely reheated and remoulded multiple times as a patient’s needs change. By maximising reuse, the team reduced material waste, procurement demand and carbon impact - while continuing to deliver excellent clinical outcomes.
After extensive research, testing and perseverance, the service went further by switching to a more sustainable thermoplastic supplier, embedding Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) into practice - shifting responsibility for reuse and end‑of‑life back to the manufacturer, not the NHS.
What changed 👇
♻️ Splints reused safely for the same patient
💷 30% lower material costs (without compromising quality)
🔁 Supplier take‑back and recycling scheme
⚙️ Old splints remoulded into traction weights by the manufacturer
✅ £1,000+ in cost avoidance achieved
Those remade traction weights are now used in twice‑weekly hand therapy group sessions run by Roseanna - closing the loop between patient care, reuse and recovery.
This case study shows how sustainability can move beyond individual behaviour change and into corporate responsibility, where procurement decisions, product design and end‑of‑life solutions are addressed collaboratively with suppliers. It demonstrates that circular economy and EPR principles can be embedded into routine clinical practice, delivering real benefits for patients, NHS budgets and the planet.
👏 Huge congratulations to the OT team for their innovation, persistence and leadership — showing that greener healthcare really can become business as usual.
🔗 More case study details on Connect, under Greener AHP Week.
