New premises
We have moved! Our new premises in Parkwood Business Park in Sheffield mean we have additional warehouse space for storage of the Bio-Bin® product range, so we are able to supply to our customers more quickly and easily. We also have the benefit of a brand new office suite where our Sales and Product design team are now based. Any shed-warming gifts will be gratefully received…
SYIF Investment
Our new location was secured with the help a significant funding from the South Yorkshire Investment Fund. The SYIF provides investment to aid the development of new small businesses in the South Yorkshire region. As well as the new premises, the funds will go towards driving forward our product development. SYIF’s investment manager David Livesley (pictured with Econix MD Nic Wood) said of the company: “Econix is a pioneering company, which is producing eco-friendly solutions for the healthcare industry. Their innovative thinking is helping to reduce the carbon footprint of health professionals all over the country and further afield.” For further information please take a look at http://www.syif.com/case-studies/econix.asp .
Development of new bins
As of December 2008 all sizes of Bio-Bin® (1, 2, 5 and 6 litre) became available in the full range of colours as specified in the healthcare waste segregation guidelines in the Department of Health’s Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe management of healthcare waste.
The 10, 20 and 30 litre Bio-Bin® are currently under development. We are confident that we will obtain UN approval for these by the end of May 2009, with full production to follow shortly after.
New Bin-sert™ for Chelsea and Westminster
From talking to our good friends at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, we learnt of concerns regarding primary blood tubes in the Bio-Bins® causing them to rupture along the seams during vacuum and autoclaving cycles. MD Nic Wood met with the Laboratory Services Manager Adrian Wildfire (pictured below) to look into possible solutions, and after a number of partial successes they came up with the idea of an insert which could fit inside the Bio-Bin® to act as extra protection against the implosion of blood vials during autoclaving.
Enter the Bin-sert™, our new accompanying product which does just that; the Bin-sert™ sits inside the Bio-Bin® adding additional rigidity and integrity from the base to the fill line. It also doubles up as a considered solution for the disposal of glass vials and slides. The small opening at the top of the Bin-sert™ allows waste items to be deposited whilst helping to prevent harm to the user. The Bin-sert™ has been successfully trialed by the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and it has been confirmed to us that the Bin-sert™ solves the issue. As a result of the trials the Hospital is now considering use of the Bio-Bin® throughout the whole Trust. The Bin-sert™ will be going into production in the near future.
Bio-Bin® a success at Royal Infirmary Manchester
Manchester: home of Coronation Street, Oasis and forward-thinking waste department at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. We were first contacted by CMFT back in 2007 after they explained to us that sweetie jars were no longer recommended to be used in their labs and that the Bio-Bin® had been recommended to them as the alternative.
Following successful trials of the Bio-Bin® in the labs, the Trust have now introduced them into the renal and ECT departments of the hospital. More information can be found on this under the Bio-Bin® in Use section of our website.
In the renal department the Trust is using the five litre yellow Bio-Bin® for disposal of medicinal waste and required more accurate labelling for this purpose. As a result we developed a label which can be placed onto any Bio-Bin® containing medicinal waste (please see below) which assists the user in clarifying the correct disposal procedure.
Lincolnshire PCT community nurses to use Bio-Bin®
With the help of Waste Manager Ray Wright and Community Nursing Manager Susan Ombler, an order for several thousand Bio-Bins® is in the process of being delivered to Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust for use by their community nurses. We will also be working closely with them to develop a modular tray system which the Bio-Bin® will fit into for use in the nurses’ vehicles. We have been invited to visit the Trust in the near future in order to see first-hand how the nurses will be using the Bio-Bin® to enable us to create a HTM 07-01 compliant waste-disposal system for community nursing waste.
For the latest news and updates on Econix and the Bio-Bin® you can also check out our website: www.econix.co.uk
