Surgical gowns help protect patients from exposure to microorganisms and serve as personal protective equipment for perioperative staff members. Medical textiles, including surgical gowns, are available as reusable and disposable products. Health care facility administrators and leaders who endeavor to use environmentally sustainable practices require current data for decision making. This study analyzed all activities from the extraction of fossil materials from the earth to the end‐of‐life disposal of reusable and disposable surgical gowns. The researchers included calculations for laundry and wastewater treatment operations and compared the environmental effects of the two surgical gown systems. The study results showed that selection of reusable gowns rather than disposable gowns reduced natural resource energy consumption (64%), greenhouse gas emissions (66%), blue water consumption (83%), and solid waste generation (84%). Perioperative nurses can use this information to assist facility leaders as they make informed decisions related to gown system selection.

Selecting reusable garment systems may result in significant environmental benefits compared to selecting disposable garment systems. By selecting reusable isolation gowns, healthcare facilities can add these quantitative benefits directly to their sustainability scorecards.

LanzaTech has developed novel microbial bioreactor systems capable of direct gas fermentation to produce ethanol from carbon-containing gases. In this study, a life-cycle assessment method is used to quantify the global warming potential of several scenarios for producing renewable ethanol with the LanzaTech process. Scenarios considering ethanol produced from steel mill waste gases or biomass (corn stover, forest residue, or switchgrass, via gasification) have been considered, using input data from peer-reviewed literature, government reports, life cycle inventory databases, and LanzaTech process engineering estimates. Using standardized life-cycle assessment methods, ethanol produced via LanzaTech fermentation appears to result in greenhouse gas emissions that are at least 60% lower than that of conventional fossil gasoline, with biomass-based ethanol achieving close to 90% emission reductions. Results indicate that the LanzaTech gas fermentation technology can be a viable alternative for producing next-generation biofuels that satisfy United States Renewable Fuels Standard policies concerning fuels with a reduced greenhouse gas emissions footprint.

Thermoset composites represent a substantial challenge for recycling, even as composite products increase in market interest. The concept of putting all future thermoset composite products into landfills over the next decades is unlikely to continue. This paper examines the three eras in the history of thermoset product recycling, the drivers for increased recycling, and possible future trends. Technology for managing thermoset composite products at end-of-life first focused on retrieving fiber and to a lesser extent resin. Then in a second era, research focused on better utilization of recovered fiber and finally the third era is now keeping more of the original resin–fiber structure to reuse these composites. Drivers are emerging to stimulate thermoset recycling, including States with success in recycling other challenging products (tires, carpets, automobile parts, etc.) setting policy and fees to encourage recycling. The evolution of heat recovery as a thermoset recycling option in Europe is another driver. Additionally, efforts at certification of recycled fiber quality may stimulate greater reuse.

The world faces an increasing need to phase out harmful chemicals and design sustainable alternatives across various consumer products and industrial applications. Alternatives assessment is an emerging field focusing on...