Sourcing Hospital Phone Charging Solutions that Reduce Scope 3 Emissions

Sustainability is a frequently used term but all too often it is deployed without an understanding of how it relates to the work environment and practices that are meant to support it.

Scopes 1, 2 and 3 are of paramount importance on the road to net zero. Those concerned with specifying products and services within hospitals are particularly aware of the import of Scope 3 which essentially means ‘calculating and eliminating value chain emissions.’

At Crable we are dedicated to environmental improvements that foster a sustainable future and lead to social and economic improvements in the communities in which we do business.

Crable provides six reasons why its eponymous charging shelves contribute to NHS Trusts’ net zero goals:

1. Made in Britain

2. Manufacturing with Recycled Plastics

3. Energy Efficiency and Increased Safety with Wireless Charging

4. Easy Cleaning = Reduced Chemical Usage and Time

5. Reduced Reliance on Cables

6. Upcycling Service

Striving for a net zero carbon footprint in your NHS Foundation Trust? Every aspect of your healthcare operation must be reviewed and considered. 

This includes the provision of services aimed at improving the patient and staff experience. One such consideration is the placement of charging facilities in areas of your hospital where people require a ‘fast charge’.

Introducing Crable Charging Shelves

Crable designs and supplies charging shelves specifically for large commercial buildings where high traffic will require a robust solution. High traffic equates to high wear and tear as well as cleanliness challenges.

Crable charging stations don’t just look the part, they are hard-wearing, easy to clean, free to use and reliable.

Here are the reasons why Crable can be considered the best solution for Trusts who care deeply about their net zero journey:

1.    Made in Britain

Since the formation of the company in 2018, Crable has insisted on retaining all of its direct manufacturing within the UK. Significant cost savings could have been made by developing a manufacturing base in the Far East, but Crable considers the build cost to be just one of many cost areas that are at play.

The much wider gains of local UK manufacturing are:

Reduced transportation

Reduced carbon footprint

Local job creation

Increased quality control 

Reduced risk in the supply chain

Increased product provenance

Reduced lead time

Just as hospital procurement teams are seeking to reduce their Scope 3 emissions, Crable is continuously reviewing its own supply chain. The more components that can be sourced from local manufacturers the prouder Crable’s team will be. Our supply chain consequently now adheres to a greater commitment to responsible environmental practices, reducing energy consumption and increasing operational efficiency.

2.    Manufacturing with Recycled Plastics

Crable is able to manufacture its charging shelves using recycled plastics. The main body of the Crable shelf is created using injection moulding and this part of the manufacturing process is capable of utilising recycled plastics.

Two considerations when deciding if the use of recycled plastics is right for your Crables:

a)    The choice of Crable colour is reduced to one with 100% accuracy but, fortuitously, this one colour is light grey/white (RAL 7035) and has provided the NHS with its preferred Crable colour in all Trusts to date. Crable is able to manufacture using recycled plastics in any colour-match scenario although this carries a slightly reduced 95% accuracy guarantee.

b)   When recycling plastics, some properties of the polymers are changed. Crables are a fully certified product which includes their flame rating as UL 94 V-0 and are therefore self-extinguishing within 10 seconds once the source of the fire is removed. With recycled plastics the flame rating changes to UL 94 V-2 which slightly lengthens the time to extinguishment to 30 seconds.

Once again, Crable is continuously reviewing its own purchasing specifications and demanding suppliers explore the usage of recycled materials within their products.  

3.    Energy Efficiency and Increased Safety from Wireless Charging

The provision of wireless charging services allows hospitals to have more control on how and where people charge their devices.

NHS Trusts do not want wall sockets used for phone charging rather than their intended uses such as cleaning and even critical care equipment.

By providing dedicated charging points, Trusts can also remove trip hazards that are created by trailing cables. Additionally, people using Crable’s wireless charging pads are encouraged to take as much battery top-up as they need rather than just leaving their device for prolonged periods unnecessarily.

Wireless charging is affordable too! A 2023 example calculation for a typical commercial electricity contract shows the tiny £0.50 cost for 100 hours of wireless charging.

4.    Easy Cleaning = Reduced Chemicals and Time

Crable’s charging shelves have been designed to be as easy to clean as possible – the units are compact with no nasty nooks and crannies.

Staff are able to clean and sanitise Crables as quickly as they would a hand dryer - and by the way, Crables are installed in exactly the same way as a hand dryer.

Crable’s compact and robust design means that the total surface area is minimal while still delivering maximum device charging functionality.  This smaller surface area equates to less cleaning time and fewer cleaning chemicals being used.

5.    Reduced Reliance on Cables

Encouraging people to use wireless charging helps reduce the manufacture of charging cables.

Not only can cables be damaged and pose a safety risk but they are also a significant burden on our earth’s natural resources. Each cable contains copper, rubber, metal and more. Once damaged these cables are invariably discarded and sent to landfill.

Almost every phone on the market today is supplied with an in-built wireless receiver. People should be encouraged to ditch cable charging and move to wireless charging - An End to Cable Chaos!

Whilst Apple has now been instructed to conform to a European standard of charging ports (USB-C) going forward, older iPhones are still in use. This means that people are still using and buying cables and leads with lightning connectors. Wireless charging eliminates the need for these unnecessary purchases when benefiting from a handset’s in-built wireless receiver.

6.    Upcycling Service

Every space within a building has a finite life expectancy, such is the nature of our developing commercial world. Inevitably rooms and departments within a hospital will be refurbished as part of a planned cycle. In some cases, these areas will even be demolished and rebuilt.

Crable has designed its charging shelves to reliably perform indefinitely even in the most challenging environments. Despite their robust build, Crables might eventually be deemed surplus to requirements and this we would describe as their ‘end of service’ point (not ‘end of life’). Negative impacts on the environment are reduced as Crables are not for single use - they are not disposable products that require regular replacement.

Should Crable customers decide against relocating their charging shelves to the refurbished area or deploying to another area within the hospital or wider Trust premises, then Crable will provide an upcycling service.

Upcycling a Crable involves deconstructing each unit and ensuring that each and every part is reused. There is a wide variety of materials used within a Crable and we want to ensure that all are repurposed in new products rather than relying on sourcing new materials.

Find out more about Crable's features.

Why not have a read of our NHS case study?

If you want to know more about Crable and installing charging stations within your NHS Trust, get in touch here.