More than a decade ago, an OR nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center started a recycling program for polypropylene-based surgical blue wrap.
The hospital “recycled tons of it and then we decided we could do more," Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and CEO of The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont, said during a recent Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by Ambu, to discuss how healthcare organizations are addressing sustainability.
Now that recycled blue wrap is repurposed into blue wash basins that the hospital buys for patient use.
Paths to Sustainability Success
Healthcare systems and medical device manufacturers alike recognize the critical role of sustainability strategies going forward, and both groups are working on ways to reduce their own environmental footprints as well as those of their partners. The webinar, featuring five experts, explored some of these frameworks in detail and offered tips for healthcare organizations to navigate the path to sustainability success.
After all, it is estimated that a hospital patient in the U.S. generates about 33.8 pounds of waste per day. Of the 14,000 tons of waste generated daily by U.S. healthcare facilities, between 20 and 25 percent is plastic.
Programs Launched to Drive Environmental Efforts
There are a number of programs designed to inspire healthcare organizations and the vendors who serve them, to stretch in the quest for sustainable alternatives.
The Joint Commission has given organizations the option of seeking Sustainable Health Certification, which provides facilities with a framework to tackle decarbonization. Attaining the certification requires that hospitals meet vigorous standards to accelerate sustainability efforts.
In addition, there are other initiatives including the HHS Climate Change Pledge and Practice Greenhealth.
Last year, HonorHealth, in Scottsdale, Arizona, diverted nearly 30 tons of waste from landfills through device reprocessing efforts, said Ryan Kirane, HonorHealth’s vice president of supply chain services and its sustainability officer.
And a Mayo Clinic laboratory in Rochester, Minn., wanted to be a leader in paperless operations and was able to reduce paper usage by more than 75 percent, or about 500,000 sheets of paper annually, according to Dr. William Morice II, president and CEO of Mayo Collaborative Services.
How Manufacturers are Limiting Their Carbon Footprint
As an example of what can be done by device manufacturers, Ambu has partnered with a third party to develop a takeback program whereby its products are incinerated to generate energy.
"We want to advance to a pure recycling program that shreds the plastic and creates pellets that can be reused for tertiary products," said Wes Scruggs, vice president of corporate accounts at Ambu. "One of our goals is to create a circular product life cycle, so we limit our environmental footprint from a landfill and carbon footprint perspective."
Already, Ambu’s endoscope handles are made from bioplastics which will reduce the carbon footprint of the ABS plastics the company uses by 70%. The company also just announced that the cuff protectors on its Aura laryngeal masks are now 100 percent bioplastic and that the product packaging has been redesigned to reduce the plastic used.
“You want to look for those vendors who are willing to step in and help with that total analysis and understand the impact that we’re having on the environment from raw material extraction to end of life,” Scruggs said.
