The benefits of reusable curtains
The NHS aims to be the world’s first national healthcare provider to achieve net zero carbon, with an ambitious target of 2040. Tackling its carbon footprint is highly important because the NHS produces a large number of carbon emissions every year, and the climate crisis raises further health issues.
The World Health Organisation reports that “climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity”. It’s estimated that from 2030 to 2050, global warming may result in 250,000 additional deaths each year. In the long run, reducing greenhouse gas emissions would prevent these additional deaths and may improve global health.
YewdaleHarrier® cubicle and shower curtains are designed to be long-lasting and environmentally friendly, making them a great option for NHS trusts transitioning to net zero. In this article, we break down the key environmental benefits of our medical curtains.
Wipe-clean material
Our reusable curtains are made with a PVC fabric that is non-absorbent, meaning any bodily fluid spills can be cleaned off quickly without removing the curtain from the cubicle track. The wipe-clean material means that our environmentally friendly curtains don’t have to be sent to a hospital’s laundry facilities for cleaning, saving staff time and helping to reduce carbon emissions.
Long-lasting
Every reusable curtain we produce is extremely long-lasting, which is why we offer a lifetime guarantee to our customers. Our Stericurtain is made using 100% polyester PVC laminated fabric which is very durable and does not tear or stain.
NHS trusts can count on our reusable curtains and screening solutions to withstand intense use over the long term, resulting in fewer carbon emissions than using disposable curtains or unlaminated fabric curtains.
Manufactured in the UK
All our medical curtains are manufactured in our state-of-the-art facility in the UK. This helps to reduce the amount of carbon emitted during the fulfilment process to the NHS because the curtains are not imported from another country, so they don’t travel anywhere near as far.
Disposable curtains
Our disposable curtains are ideal for situations where reusable curtains may not be appropriate. We’ve been supplying NHS trusts and hospitals with medical curtains for over 35 years, and recently joined the NHS supply chain as an approved supplier of disposable curtains. Our disposable cubicle curtains are 100% recyclable and are packaged in recycled boxes. We offer a full recycle programme to help the NHS to reduce its impact on the environment.
The YewdaleHarrier® disposable curtain has a unique patent-pending design that helps the NHS reduce its carbon footprint. During the manufacturing process, we create a simple hook hollow instead of plastic eyelets, saving up to 100 grams of plastic waste per curtain. Just think about the amount of plastic that would be saved over the course of a year, across multiple NHS trusts!
Our disposable curtains are up to 40% stronger than other hospital curtains and provide more privacy with 16 DPI (dots per inch) than the standard industry type at 14 DPI.
Elite delivery service
The NHS works with green suppliers to help reduce carbon emissions that it cannot directly control, making our Elite delivery service an added bonus. To further reduce carbon emissions, our Elite delivery service allows us to use much less packaging because our drivers are in complete control of the delivery process. We also collect used Yewdale packaging from our customers which we reuse or recycle.
Summary
As a manufacturer of commercial roller blinds, cassette blinds, cubicle tracks and medical curtains, reducing our carbon footprint is a priority. We’re proud to be one of the greenest manufacturers of blinds and an approved NHS supplier of disposable curtains. Using recyclable materials that also last much longer has allowed us to provide low-carbon curtains to the NHS to help hospitals reduce their carbon emissions.
If you’re interested in our eco-friendly curtains, please contact us for more information.
Keen to learn more about our hospital curtains and cubicle tracks? We created an article explaining why Yewdale cubicle tracks are popular in hospitals - read it here.
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