Healthcare facilities in the United States generate approximately 14,000 tons of waste per day. 20 and 25 percent of that can be attributed to plastic packaging and plastic products. 85 percent of the waste generated is non-infectious.
Not everything has to go in the biomedical waste. Discuss carefully with your HS&E department.
- Anything found in dock areas and delivery packaging should be recycled or disposed of through normal routes. These have not been contaminated in the medical environment.
- Collect wrappings and packaging before surgery and can go into the recycling or normal disposal routes.
- During surgery, if there are extra hands, someone should collect clean waste that hasn’t actually touched the patient or their bodily fluids and put that through a more normal disposal/recycling route.
- Many items used in hospitals are no more contaminated than household waste. Those items can be collected for recycling/normal disposal.
Reduce Tests
Laboratory testing expenses make up around 3% of total clinical costs in healthcare. To reduce healthcare expenditure, a common strategy involves randomly cutting laboratory budgets and unnecessary tests. However, a more effective approach is to conduct audits of laboratory test requests to identify any redundant tests. This can lead to a reduction in the use of reagents and hazardous chemicals.
Plastics
Sterilization Blue Wrap
This is the blue wrapping used to protect surgical instruments from contamination.
In 6 months, Sacred Heart hospitals consumes 1 tonne of blue wrap.
Collect this material beforehand before it gets contaminated and put it into the “clean” recycling. It’s usually made of polypropylene (resin identification #5), so it can often be recyced with other polypropylene materials.
Autoclave Tape
You also don’t need large amounts of autoclave tape. Just a a little dab (about an inch long) is sufficient. You just need enough to see the item has successfully reached the right temperature.
You don’t need to use it to tape package shut. Consider more eco-friendly alternatives such as clips, string, or paper sealing alternatives.
Trays and Basins
These rigid opague containers are usually made from polypropylene (resin identification #5) and can be recycled.
Consider going back to old fashioned metal ones or paper ones.
Packaging
Pouches, header bags, vented bags, blister packs or film bags are often constructed from muliple types of materials. Most commonly, Tyvek® (high-density polyethylene) with films made of Polyester, Polyethylene, Polyamides, Polypropylene, and Ionomers. Tyvek® often looks similar to paper, so it can be confusing. To check, look through the material with a light source on the other side. You should be able to see long intertwined fibers. Unlike paper, Tyvek® is difficult to tear. When in doubt, check with the the manufacturer.
Multi-material items are difficult to recycle.
In the case of blister packs, once the Tyvek® lid is removed from the rigid tray those tray (and possibly the Tyvek® lids) can be recycled.
Flexible clear packaging like shrink wrap, stretch film, and plastic bags are usually made from polyethylene (PE) and may be recycled with #2 materials.
Irrigation bottles
These bottles are usually polypropylene (resin identification #5) and can be recycled.
Saline bottles
These bottles are usually high density polyethylene (resin identification #2) and can be recycled.
Anesthetic Gas
Anesthetic gasses such as N2O and Desflurane have high global warming potential. If possible, use injectable anesthetics.
5% of acute care footprint is from anaesthetic gases.
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