Reduce—recycle—reuse: guidelines for promoting perioperative waste management

AORN Journal,  April, 2007  by Gary Laustsen

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   the act of purchasing products/services
   whose environmental impacts have
   been considered and found to be less
   damaging to the environment and
   human health when compared to competing
   products/services. (8)

A 10-step guide to starting an EPP program can be found at the H2E web site at http://www.h2e-online.org. Health care facilities that use EPP

* significantly reduce the overall impact on the environment;

* reduce costs by

** purchasing supplies at lower prices,

** making changes that eliminate the amount of waste disposed, or

** reducing the need for worker safety measures and hazardous waste disposal;

* provide a healthier environment for patients, workers, and employees by reducing exposure to hazardous substances in products such as cleaners, solvents, and paints; and

* create opportunities for positive publicity and promotion. (8)

Organizations interested in pursuing EPP also should consider having a representative attend a CleanMed conference. Information about these conferences can be found at the CleanMed web site at http://www.cleanmed.org. At these conferences, health care facilities looking to purchase environmentally preferred supplies are brought together with the companies that offer these supplies. The CleanMed organization also promotes the building of green health care facilities.

SURGICAL PACKS, Another way to reduce waste is to reconsider the contents of surgical packs. Prepackaged surgical packs often contain items that routinely are not used because of surgical staff member preferences. Suppliers may be willing to work with individual facilities to develop surgical packs that contain only the specific items that typically are used and requested by members of the surgical staff. Removing unused items from these packs not only will reduce the cost of the pack, but also will eliminate the cost of disposing of these additional items into the hospital waste stream. Some facilities also may find that it is more cost-effective and reduces waste when the facility's own central supply services puts together surgical instrument packs based on surgical staff member requirements.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION. Energy consumption is a major contributor to environmental degradation. Hospitals and ORs can decrease the negative environmental effects of energy production by reducing energy consumption. Reducing energy use can be accomplished by turning off unused lights, monitors, pumps, and computers. A reduction in the amount of perioperative supplies purchased also indirectly reduces total energy consumed in the manufacture and disposal of these items.

WATER CONSUMPTION. Water is another resource that can be conserved by greening efforts. In some parts of the country water resources are limited. Health care facilities use an enormous amount of water, and often this is not evaluated as a conservation item. Water-reduction strategies include

* fixing leaking plumbing fixtures;

* installing low-flow faucet heads; and

* replacing older toilets with newer, low-flow toilets.