What is the objective of LIFE projects?
LIFE Demonstration projects concern pilot actions that are implemented for the first time in European level, for which there is interest - in case they are successful - for implementation at a wider scale.
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How a LIFE project is funded?
The LIFE projects are co financed by the participating partners and the European Commission. The Commission’s co financing is up to 30% for projects generating substantial net revenue, and up to 50% in other cases.
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What is an Environmental Management System?
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a problem identification and problem solving tool that provides organisations with a method to systematically manage their environmental activities, products and services and helps achieve their environmental obligations and performance goals.
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What is EMAS?
The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a management tool for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. More details about EMAS are available at the respective link of the website, or at the European Commission’s webpage for EMAS: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/emas
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How the implementation of EMAS is related with the protection of the environment?
The implementation of the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme by an organisation or company is voluntary and demonstrates the will of the organisation to contribute to the protection of the environment. This is because in the framework of EMAS the organisation has to analyse and evaluate the environmental impacts that derive from its activities and as a second step the results are reported, including the targets set in order to decrease these impacts. This procedure is repeated every year and thus, transparency is introduced to the operation of the organisation regarding its environmental impact. Finally, the accomplishment of the targets set leads to the increase of the organisation’s environmental performance.
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Why to implement an Environmental Management System in a Hospital?
There are several reasons for implementing an EMS in hospitals:
- The physical environment of the hospital has substantial impact on patient recovery. Studies have demonstrated that the quality of the environment hospital is linked to reduced length of stay, reduced patient pain and fewer strong doses of pain drugs.
- The quality of the hospital’s physical environment is also related to patient safety and strongly affects patient satisfaction.
- In addition, physical environment quality is important for reducing stuff stress and fatigue.
- Hospitals are facilities that produce large quantities and different types of waste (both similar to domestic and hazardous). In addition large quantities of natural resources are consumed.
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What does Sustainable Development mean?
Sustainable Development is defined as an economic growth which satisfies society's needs in terms of well-being in the short, medium and long term, founded on the assumption that development must meet today's needs without compromising the prospects for growth of future generations.
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What does Sustainable Waste Management mean?
Sustainable waste management is the management that uses material resources efficiently to cut down on the amount of the waste produced, as well as the dealing with waste in a way that actively contributes to the economic, social and environmental goals of sustainable development.
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Why does healthcare waste need special treatment?
According to official data from WHO, in 2000, inappropriate HCW management (injections with contaminated syringes) caused 21 million hepatidis B and C Virus infections and 260.000 HIV infections. Healthcare Waste includes infectious waste, chemical or pharmaceutical waste and radioactive and cyotoxic waste which need to be collected separately, in order to reduce risks to public health and the environment.
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Does Health care waste comprise only of dangerous and toxic substances?
Contrary to popular belief, non-hazardous medical waste makes up nearly 3/4 of the waste generated in a hospital and should not be overlooked. It is important to collect non-hazardous waste separately, since it can be treated with conventional solid waste treatment methods and disposed of together with municipal solid waste. Therefore, the procedure of collection and initial segregation of non-hazardous waste is of high importance as possible mixture of these two categories can result to non-hazardous waste contamination.
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What is the quantity of Health care waste generated in Greece?
It has been estimated, that approximately 250 tones of HCW waste per day are being generated in Greek medical institutions, and about 50 tones of this quantity is hazardous waste that need special treatment.
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Is there HCW treatment facilities in Greece?
Untill 2002 a pilot unit for the incineration of HCW was operating in the area of Ano Liosia in the Attica region. This unit had a small capacity of 800 kg/day and was recently replaced by a modern treatment facility for the incineration of HCW. The new Unit costs about 9 million € and is operated by A.C.M.A.R. (the Association of Communities and Municipalities in Attica Region). While the capacity of the new unit is 30 tones/ per day most of the medical institutions do not send their HCW to A.C.M.A.R.’s facilities and as a result the treatment cost/tone of waste is increased.
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Which is the legislative framework in Greece regarding the HCW management?
Joint Ministerial Decision 37591/2031/2003 forces the medical institutions to develop internal Regulations for the sustainable management of HCW, to develop adequate infrastructure and promote training schemes for the working staff. In addition it clearly defines hazardous healthcare waste and its various categories, penalties to be imposed for contravention and specifications of collection and treatment methods.
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What does Energy Saving mean and why is this important?
Energy saving is the reduction of the unnecessary energy use in order for the amount of energy produced and consumed to correspond to the real needs. The reduction of energy required to satisfy these needs leads to a decrease of air emissions and more specifically of greenhouse gas emissions. As the greenhouse effect is considered to be responsible for the climate change, the implementation of energy saving measures has a very significant role for the protection of the environment.
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What does Green Procurement mean?
Green procurement is an essential approach under the Integrated Product Policy (IPP), which aims at reducing the environmental impact of products through an integrated approach to production, distribution, consumption and handling at the end of their life-time, including the development of environmentally-friendly products.
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