An audit of intensive care unit recyclable waste

McGain, Forbes; Story, David A; Hendel, Simon

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.2009.06102.x

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The volume of plastics used in healthcare is not known, but in studies from a number of different countries and settings, plastics have been estimated to account for 30% of all healthcare waste, and around one-third of waste in intensive care or anaesthetics. 7 Given that the US produces around 5.9 million tonnes of medical waste per year, 6 this suggests that around 1.7 million tonnes of this will be plastics. The UK National Health Service is estimated to dispose of 133,000 tonnes of plastic each year.…”

Section: The Scale and Harms Of Healthcare Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastics in healthcare: time for a re-evaluation

et al. 2020

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Section: The Scale and Harms Of Healthcare Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastics in healthcare: time for a re-evaluation

et al. 2020

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“… 109 Critical care units are also resource intensive. 110 Waste generation seems like an inevitable outcome of treating patients. By following the waste hierarchy 111 (reduce, reuse, recycle) and adopting waste prevention programmes such as Choosing Wisely – an initiative that seeks to maintain/improve clinical care, whilst promoting rational resource use, 112 such as reducing unnecessary investigations and medications – can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of healthcare.…”

Section: Waste Prevention: Avoid Reduce Reuse Recycle Reprocessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and critical care

McGain

Muret

Lawson

et al. 2020

British Journal of Anaesthesia

275

226

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The detrimental health effects of climate change continue to increase. Although health systems respond to this disease burden, healthcare itself pollutes the atmosphere, land, and waterways. We surveyed the 'state of the art' environmental sustainability research in anaesthesia and critical care, addressing why it matters, what is known, and ideas for future work. Focus is placed upon the atmospheric chemistry of the anaesthetic gases, recent work clarifying their relative global warming potentials, and progress in waste anaesthetic gas treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA; i.e. 'cradle to grave' analysis) is introduced as the definitive method used to compare and contrast ecological footprints of products, processes, and systems. The number of LCAs within medicine has gone from rare to an established body of knowledge in the past decade that can inform doctors of the relative ecological merits of different techniques. LCAs with practical outcomes are explored, such as the carbon footprint of reusable vs single-use anaesthetic devices (e.g. drug trays, laryngoscope blades, and handles), and the carbon footprint of treating an ICU patient with septic shock. Avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle, and reprocess are then explored. Moving beyond routine clinical care, the vital influences that the source of energy (renewables vs fossil fuels) and energy efficiency have in healthcare's ecological footprint are highlighted. Discussion of the integral roles of research translation, education, and advocacy in driving the perioperative and critical care environmental sustainability agenda completes this review.

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“…In the United States, health care is the second highest contributor to landfill and incinerators (24), with ∼2.2 kg of waste produced per patient per day (35). A 10-bed Australian intensive care unit (ICU) at a 320-bed hospital produced 5% of total hospital waste, approximately, 44% of which was recyclable, with almost 60% of the ICU general waste suitable for recycling (36). A later audit revealed only 15% of the waste to be recyclable, with almost half (70 kg of 145 kg) actually recycled.…”

Section: Plastic Waste In Intensive Care Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pediatric Critical Care and the Climate Emergency: Our Responsibilities and a Call for Change

Wooldridge

Murthy

2020

Front. Pediatr.

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Critical care is perhaps one of the most "climate-intensive" divisions of health care. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the unprecedented threat of climate change has belatedly prompted an increased awareness of critical care's environmental impact. Within our role as pediatric critical care providers, we have a dual responsibility not only to care for children at their most vulnerable, but also to advocate on their behalf. There are clear, demonstrable effects of our worsening climate on the health of children, with the resultant increased burden of pediatric critical illness and disruption to health care systems. From increasing wildfires and their effect on lung health, to the spread of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, and the increased migration of children due to a changing climate, the effects of a changing climate are here, and we are beginning to see the changing epidemiology of pediatric critical illness. Ensuring that the effects of ongoing changes are minimized, including its future effects on child health, requires a multifaceted approach. As part of this review, we will use the Lancet Countdown on Climate Change indicators to explore the impact of pediatric critical care on climate change and the inevitable influence climate change will have on the future practice of pediatric critical care globally.

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An audit of intensive care unit recyclable waste

Cited by 39 publications

References 16 publications

Plastics in healthcare: time for a re-evaluation

Plastics in healthcare: time for a re-evaluation

Environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and critical care

Pediatric Critical Care and the Climate Emergency: Our Responsibilities and a Call for Change

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