First published: 13 February 2026 -
Last updated: 13 February 2026 -
Verified by our Editorial Panel
Reusing cardboard boxes ‘too good to waste’ is saving the Welsh Blood Service money and resources
Eagle-eyed staff are spotting opportunities to keep items in circulation for longer – or even donating them to local monkeys
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At the Welsh Blood Service Transplantation Lab, they’re used to receiving lots of deliveries every day containing blood samples from across South Wales.
This can mean a large volume of boxes and packaging which needs to be recycled or thrown away.
“We receive about 60 cardboard sample boxes a week, which is a lot because we’re a reference laboratory,” explains Biomedical Scientist, Lowri Kadelka-Williams.
“The samples inside are triple-packed and stored in a plastic tub, which means the outer cardboard boxes are clean enough to be recycled. So one day my colleague wondered, what if we could reuse them instead?”
For the last year, the lab has been sending the boxes back to hospitals (and receiving them again) as part of their regular hospital transport of blood products for patients, so no extra fuel is required.
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The sustainability team in Velindre University NHS Trust, of which the Welsh Blood Service is a part, host regular drop-in sessions for clinical staff to share ideas on ways to reduce their impact on the environment.
These sessions led to WRAP being invited in to the Welsh Blood Service to advise on how to reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste being generated.
“At the moment the lab is generating an entire bin per day just of plastic packaging, from a single workstation within the lab,” explained Ella Williamson, Energy and Environment Officer at Velindre University NHS Trust.
“It was so eye-opening to see. If something is contaminated, it has to be incinerated, but a lot of this is just outer packaging which is clean. We plan on going round the different departments across the Trust with WRAP. We would like to make posters about what can and can’t be recycled specific to that department’s waste.”
Ella Williamson, Energy and Environment Officer, Velindre University NHS Trust
Other cardboard items, like the tubes from the blue paper used to protect beds between patients, have even been collected and taken to the nearby Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary, at the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, for the monkeys to use in problem-solving and enrichment activities. This was all as a result of the staff drop-in sessions.
Ella said: “Not only is it a charity donation but it’s also reduced our recycling waste stream as well, and it’s good for the monkeys. It’s a triple win.”
Workplace recycling, let's get it sorted
From 6 April 2026, all hospitals will need to start separating their waste for recycling as part of Wales’ workplace recycling law. To find help with your workplace recycling, click here.
Find out more about what Wales is doing to tackle climate change.
