Bush Park Wins Silver!
Many of us will associate the word ‘X-ray’ with a childhood tree-climbing-adventure-gone-wrong, or a handy way to get rid of an X letter in Scrabble, but UHP is demonstrating how the word should also make us think of sustainability.
UHP’s Bush Park based Health Records department have been in touch with the sustainability team to tell us how they use a metal business named Betts to recycle old medical X-ray film into silver jewellery. Once health records surpass the retention period as per the Records Management Code of Practice 2021, they need to be disposed of. But rather than sending the X-ray film to landfill, Betts collects the film, shreds the confidential waste, and refines the silver in total segregation from other materials before selling it to ethically minded jewellers.
The top-quality silver that is produced is known as AgAIN (a clever name if you know the chemical symbol for silver) and is beneficial to all involved; hospitals like UHP can make money from the old X-rays as Betts pays £500 per tonne net weight of film. All lovers of the Love Junk app or Facebook Marketplace will know there’s rarely a better feeling than being paid money for something you were going to liberally chuck in a skip! The 100% traceable and sustainable silver provides peace of mind for ethically minded customers, indeed, every element of the X-Rays are recycled which minimises AgAIN’s carbon footprint and reduces waste. Betts metals has been destroying the X-Rays from Bush Park for around 6 years which equates to approximately ten tonnes of film and £4000 income for the hospital- we’d dub it UHP’s best kept sustainability secret!
It's become quite common practice to think carefully before spending money on fast fashion or food with a high carbon footprint, but it may not have occurred to many of us to consider the environmental impact of our silver jewellery. Why not ask your favourite jewellery brand if they use AgAIN silver? You never know, your new pair of silver earrings may well have started its life as an X-ray of a healed fracture, filed away in a UHP Health Records box in a dark corner of Bush Park.
To find out more, head over to YouTube and watch Bett's informatve video on the silver collecting process AgAIN Silver - YouTube
