FROM little things, big things grow, and a recycling initiative launched out of Belmont's mass vaccination hub is demonstrating that every little bit counts.
In just 10 weeks, nearly 200 kilograms of plastic needle caps have been collected from the vaccination centre to be turned into things like garage door wheels and caps for the bolts on wind turbines.
"Hospitals produce a lot of waste, so we have been looking for ways to reduce some of that," Elissa Klinkenberg, a sustainability project manager for Hunter New England Health, said. "This was an easy, no brainer, quick win which has resulted in nearly 200 kilos of plastic lids - a total of almost 137,000 needle caps - not going into landfill."
They are working with a small business in Orange that uses the discarded needle tips to make secondary products, giving the plastic a second life. The initiative is part of the health district's goal to be carbon and waste neutral by 2030. It is being rolled out across the region's immunisation clinics.
"Such a small change can have a big impact," she said.
