DS Smith Recycling’s Figueira da Foz depot in Portugal has established additional safety measures to protect its employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. The depot currently collects and manages recyclable and general waste, including medical waste, from two local hospitals. As these locations are higher risk, DS Smith has established new procedures that will mitigate the risk of carrying out these services.
In line with social distancing measures, any contact with hospital employees who previously delivered the necessary documentation for the depot to perform the services has been restricted. Now the documents are sent in advance by email and they are internally printed and prepared for drivers to have on hand.
In addition, DS Smith has increased the personal protective equipment used by all employees who perform these services, ensuring that they are well equipped with a disposable mask and gloves that they use while delivering services for its customers in the medical sector. Once collected, the material collected from the hospitals is kept in quarantine for seven days before anyone comes into contact with it, minimising the risk of contamination for our employees.
“These additional measures ensure that we can still collect recyclables and waste from the hospitals while keeping our employees and customers safe,” says Alessandro Duarte, Commercial Sales Representative at DS Smith Recycling in Portugal. “The Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all in such a way that it has changed life as we know it. While health and wellbeing is our number one priority, we continue to do our best so that essential collections from our customers and suppliers do not stop, thus ensuring that we are an integral part of the solution during these challenging times.”
