5 Factors to Consider for Recycling Care Equipment

When I speak to buyers at loan stores and care homes, recyclability is a factor in the purchasing decision. They’re rightly looking to invest in equipment that lasts.

In this blog, I summarise 5 considerations regarding care equipment recycling, to help buyers reap cost benefits while maintaining a high level of user safety and comfort.

1. Adjustability

Easy adjustability helps you maximise equipment lifespan by accommodating different user sizes, weights and conditions.

When the equipment itself is simple to adjust, you can recycle it without having to purchase expensive accessories that increase total life costs.

2. Maintenance

Maintenance is another area where total life cost comes into play. Often equipment with a low upfront price tag comes with expensive ongoing service requirements, meaning it’s not cost effective in the long run. For example, a cheaper shower chair might look fine on the surface but corrode easily when in contact with water – increasing your maintenance costs drastically.

Often it’s worth paying more at the outset to increase recyclability and get a better return on investment.

3. Warranty

It sounds obvious, but buying equipment with longer warranties reduces your risk of incurring ongoing costs.

What’s more, warranty is often an indication of the manufacturer’s confidence in their product, and is therefore linked to quality and longevity.

4. Ease of use

Equipment that’s easy to use – for both users and carers – will have less chance of being returned or needing replacement.

When considering ease of use, look at everything from how easy it is to tilt a chair to how easy it is to get a sling on. The more straightforward the piece of equipment, the more likely the user and carer will stick with it.

5. Education

This starts with the initial purchase, and I always recommend review groups at this stage. When you have a few suppliers present their products to OTs and buyers, you can compare products and learn about technological developments. As a result, you’re in a better position to buy equipment that’s easy to recycle.

And training should continue. Even though you have the same equipment for years, staff turnover means you don’t always have the ideal knowledge base to make the most of that inventory. Often, new equipment gets purchased because there’s not enough knowledge of older products to recycle them effectively.

Product training can help reduce this unnecessary spending and increase recyclability. For example, we offer free on-site training that helps your staff get value out of products for longer.

Get in touch using this form to arrange your free product training, or contact us at sales@wealdenrehab.com or on 0845 658 8411.