The carbon footprint of waste streams in a UK hospital

Rizan, Chantelle; Bhutta, Mahmood F.; Reed, Malcolm; Lillywhite, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125446

Cited by 123 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…It is estimated that United States (US) hospitals generate 8.4 kg waste per patient per day, whereas United Kingdom (UK) hospitals produce on average 3.3 kg of waste per patient per day. 4 At the national level, US hospitals reportedly produce 5.9 megatons of waste each year, 5 whilst the UK National Health Service (NHS), between 2016 and 2017, disposed of 538,600 tons of waste, costing £115 million. 5 Confronting excess resource consumption and waste, and recognizing the value from raw materials that is lost when manufactured products are used once and then discarded should therefore be prioritized in order to encourage more sustainable resource use practices in the healthcare sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 At the national level, US hospitals reportedly produce 5.9 megatons of waste each year, 5 whilst the UK National Health Service (NHS), between 2016 and 2017, disposed of 538,600 tons of waste, costing £115 million. 5 Confronting excess resource consumption and waste, and recognizing the value from raw materials that is lost when manufactured products are used once and then discarded should therefore be prioritized in order to encourage more sustainable resource use practices in the healthcare sector. 6 Since the start of the 20th century, the demand for material resources has increased, resulting in a widening disequilibrium between material inflows and outflows; the amount of materials extracted during this period increased 16-fold, whilst the rate of input materials that are (re) cycled almost halved from 43% to 27%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the Waste Prevention Potential of a Multi- versus Single-Use Surgical Stapler

Meißner¹,

Lichtnegger²,

Gibson

et al. 2021

RMHP

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Purpose Within the hospital, surgery is recognized as a resource-intensive activity that disproportionately generates large volumes of healthcare waste. Single-use, disposable medical supplies contribute substantially to this problem, and more broadly to the depletion of scarce resources. Given that many surgical procedures utilize surgical stapling techniques, this study uses surgical stapling systems as functional units for evaluating the waste prevention potential of switching from single-use systems (SUSs) to multi-use systems (MUSs). Materials and Methods Two frequently used surgical stapling systems, Ethicon’s SUS: ECHELON FLEX™ and Medtronic’s MUS: Signia™ Stapling Technology, were mechanically deconstructed to their individual raw material components to calculate the composition of each system. Total waste as well as extended resource use (the total material requirement [TMR]) were then calculated for three different surgical procedures; laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, laparoscopic gastric bypass, and video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy. The differences in outcomes for SUSs versus MUSs were then calculated. Results For each surgical procedure considered, switching from a SUS to a MUS led to a reduction in total waste accumulated per procedure and TMR. Reductions in waste were 40% (sleeve gastrectomy), 70% (gastric bypass), and 62% (VATS lobectomy). The TMR reductions were higher, at 92% (sleeve gastrectomy), 96% (gastric bypass), and 95% (VATS lobectomy). Both waste and TMR reduction were realized with the MUS system as long as the reusable parts were used more than four times. This was true for all analyzed surgical procedures. Conclusion Switching from a SUS to MUS facilitates a reduction in total surgical waste and TMR for sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, and VATS lobectomy surgical procedures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Waste Prevention Potential of a Multi- versus Single-Use Surgical Stapler

Meißner¹,

Lichtnegger²,

Gibson

et al. 2021

RMHP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Zudem kann in diesen Anlagen, anders als bei der Sonderabfallverbrennung, gleichzeitig Wärme-oder Strom produziert werden [7,9]. In solchen Fällen sind die erzeugten CO 2 -Emissionen fast 6-mal geringer als bei einer Verbrennung bei hohen Temperaturen über ≥ 1100°C [10].…”

Section: Lösungsansätzeunclassified

Abfallvermeidung und -entsorgung im OP

Richter¹,

Pecher²

2021

OP-Management up2date

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“…Hospital material disposal emissions were taken from Rizan et␣al. [3]. Where there was a range for emission factors, we took the average value quoted.…”

Section: Materials Weight (G Per 1 G Paracetamol) Primary Materials P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral, in place of intravenous, paracetamol as the new normal for elective cases

2021

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We read with great interest the review discussing the equivalence in efficacy between intravenous and oral administration of paracetamol in the peri-operative period [1]. Currently, there is little information regarding the overall carbon footprint of medication usage, including paracetamol. A life-cycle assessment assesses this with a 'cradle-to-grave' analysis technique that quantifies the environmental impact associated with all stages of a product's life, from raw material extraction through processing, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal of the drug or object. The life-cycle assessments of different preparations of the same drug are likely to be significantly disparate, but this is not always easy to demonstrate because a detailed life cycle assessment requires a dedicated research team and a significant amount of time.

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The carbon footprint of waste streams in a UK hospital

Cited by 123 publications

References 22 publications

Evaluating the Waste Prevention Potential of a Multi- versus Single-Use Surgical Stapler

Evaluating the Waste Prevention Potential of a Multi- versus Single-Use Surgical Stapler

Abfallvermeidung und -entsorgung im OP

Oral, in place of intravenous, paracetamol as the new normal for elective cases

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