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Joshua Stevens
Joshua Stevens November 20, 2023

Waste Reduction in the Operating Theatres

Did you know that operating theatres produce approximately 50-70% of the total hospital waste?1

Waste generated in hospitals is split into clinical waste and non-clinical waste. Clinical waste needs to be treated before disposal whilst non-clinical waste can be disposed of in the same way as regular domestic waste.

For gloves in recent years there has been a global promotion of hand hygiene by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However this has inadvertently led to healthcare workers over using gloves rather than performing hand hygiene as recommended.2

Hospital waste management is implemented to increase safety for both patients and staff. As it is important to reduce the risk of blood-borne pathogens, hospital acquired infections and likelihood of a sharps injury. However the environmental consideration has become increasingly important. Where NHS England is producing 156,000 tonnes of clinical waste annually which is then sent to high temperature incineration (HTI) or for alternative treatment (AT). Which has a significant environmental impact with such high carbon emissions.3

This has encouraged the NHS to set an ambitious target of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from waste management at their sites by 2026.4 However this can only be achieved though collaborated efforts from suppliers, hospital green plans, strategic hospital purchasing and availability of products and technology that support this goal. The hospitals will need to begin implementing solutions such as:


Increased accessibility to recycling bins

Increased availability of general waste bins in the operating theatres

Introduce a training program for staff on waste segregation and treatment impacts

Procuring medical devices that reduce waste and with truly recyclable packaging

Donating unused medical supplies to regions or countries that will use them within their life

To achieve these goals environmentally preferable purchasing becomes an important consideration between hospitals and suppliers. For example, Ansell has received the highest recyclability certification by Institut Cyclos-HTP (CHI), a globally recognised organisation that assess and certifies the recyclability of packaging and goods, confirming a AAA rating for the SMART Pack™ packaging for surgical gloves.5

Ansell has been at the forefront of sustainable packaging design since we launched this smaller and, more user-friendly surgical glove packaging. Including moving away from fossil-fuel based packaging materials to a combination of bio-based content and recycled materials since 2016.


ACCESS THE REDUCTION OF WASTE AVAILABLE AT YOUR OPERATING THEATRES!


REFERENCES:
1. Yates, E. F., Bowder, A. N., Roa, L., Velin, L., Goodman, A. S., Nguyen, L. L., McClain, C. D., Meara, J. G., & Cooper, Z. (2021). Empowering Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, and Obstetricians to Incorporate Environmental Sustainability in the Operating Room. Annals of surgery, 273(6), 1108–1114. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000004755
2. Girou E, Chai SH, Oppein F, et al. Misuse of gloves: the foundation for poor compliance with hand hygiene and potential for microbial transmission? J Hosp Infect. 2004;57(2):162-169.
3. www.england.nhs.uk. (n.d.). NHS England, NHS clinical waste strategy. [online] Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/estates/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2023]
4. NHS (2023). NHS England» NHS clinical waste strategy. [online] www.england.nhs.uk. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/[Accessed 7 Nov. 2023]
5. Ansell (2023). Ansell Receives AAA Recyclability Rating for Surgical Gloves Smart PackTM [online] Ansell. Available at: https://www.ansell.com/gb/en/media/press-releases/ansell-receives-aaa-recyclability-rating-for-surgical-gloves-smart-pack [Accessed 7 Nov. 2023].


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