Prince Bishop Vets is taking steps to reduce waste and become more environmentally friendly after investing in innovative equipment designed to make everyday practice more sustainable.
The practice, in County Durham, has introduced two SageTech Veterinary VET-Dock units as part of a range of improvements aimed at reducing its environmental impact and supporting more sustainable ways of working.
Prince Bishop Vets is the first VetPartners practice to introduce the equipment.
The units capture waste anaesthetic gas and allow it to be safely recovered and reused rather than released into the atmosphere.
Anaesthetic gases are used during operations to keep animals safely asleep. However, only around five per cent of the gas used during a typical procedure is absorbed by the patient, with the remaining 95 per cent becoming waste.
Across UK veterinary practices, this is estimated to contribute around 74,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year – equivalent to more than 34,000 return flights from London to New York.
The new VET-Dock units capture the waste gas at the point it would normally be released and store it in a reusable canister. When the canister is full, it is returned to SageTech, where the anaesthetic agents are safely removed before the canister is prepared for reuse.
Reducing waste and impact on the environment
The investment is part of a wider programme of environmental improvements at Prince Bishop Vets, as the practice looks at ways to reduce waste and its impact on the environment.
Other changes include:
- Dedicated containers for hard-to-recycle items that fall outside standard recycling collections, keeping complex waste out of general bins, reducing the amount sent to landfill and capturing materials that would otherwise be lost.
- Recycling awareness and educational notices in team areas and on the back of toilet doors to keep recycling front of mind for colleagues.
- A new wildlife area at the back of the practice, with bee-friendly plants and a space where team members can enjoy their lunch and take a break.
VetPartners is also working to reduce its environmental impact, with an ambition to achieve Net Zero by 2045.
Prince Bishop Vets Deputy Head Nurse Florence Dalley, who helps to lead the practice’s sustainability goals, said: “We know that veterinary practices have an impact on the environment, so we wanted to look at the practical changes we could make here at Prince Bishop Vets to reduce that impact.
“The new VET-Docks are a great example of how investing in new technology can help us make a real difference. They allow us to capture and reuse anaesthetic gas that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, while our other initiatives are helping us reduce waste and encourage everyone in the practice to think about sustainability in their everyday work.
“We know there is always more we can do, but these are positive steps towards making our practice a more sustainable place for our team, our clients and the community we serve.”
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