The Environmental Impacts of Disposable Nonwoven Fabrics during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study on the Francesc de Borja Hospital

Abstract

Hospitals generate huge amounts of nonwoven residues daily. This paper focused on studying the evolution of nonwoven waste generated in the Francesc de Borja Hospital, Spain, over the last few years and its relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective was to identify the most impacting pieces of nonwoven equipment in the hospital and to analyze possible solutions. The carbon footprint of the nonwoven equipment was studied through a life-cycle assessment. The results showed an apparent increase in the carbon footprint in the hospital from 2020. Additionally, due to the higher annual volume, the simple nonwoven gown used primarily for patients had a higher carbon footprint over a year than the more sophisticated surgical gowns. It can be concluded that developing a local circular economy strategy for medical equipment could be the solution to avoid the enormous waste generation and the carbon footprint of nonwoven production.

The carbon footprint of different modes of birth in the UK and the Netherlands: An exploratory study using life cycle assessment

“…When multiple studies were available, more recent studies, those conducted in Europe and those that had a robust design were chosen. Detailed LCAs were available and used for some of the surgical equipment, sterilisation, waste, laundry and analgesia 17–19 . For equipment and/or processes with no previous LCA available, we carried out a bottom‐up calculation using the following assumptions and data sources.…”

“…Detailed LCAs were available and used for some of the surgical equipment, sterilisation, waste, laundry and analgesia. [17][18][19] For equipment and/or processes with no previous LCA available, we carried out a bottom-up calculation using the following assumptions and data sources.…”

Exploring Circular Economy Practices in the Healthcare Sector: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

“…The first of these works was published in 2016 [40]; prior to 2021, there were only seven publications [40][41][42][43][44][45][46], but there was an explosive increase in that year [30,33,37,39,[47][48][49][50][51][52]. Moreover, fourteen publications were recorded in 2022 [32,36,38,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], while in 2023, there were only five [34,[64][65][66][67]. Additionally, the figure illustrates the distribution of articles among different scientific journals, considering the distribution by year as described.…”

“…Furthermore, from an examination of research areas per journal, in addition to 15 subject areas of interest emerging, a clear focus on the environment in the subject area emerges, as "Environmental Sciences" is the prevailing area (27.40%), followed by "Engineering" (15.07%), "Medicine" (9.59%), "Economics, Econometrics and Finance" (8.22%), The first of these works was published in 2016 [40]; prior to 2021, there were only seven publications [40][41][42][43][44][45][46], but there was an explosive increase in that year [30,33,37,39,[47][48][49][50][51][52]. Moreover, fourteen publications were recorded in 2022 [32,36,38,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], while in 2023, there were only five [34,[64][65][66][67]. Additionally, the figure illustrates the distribution of articles among different scientific journals, considering the distribution by year as described.…”

Healthcare in the Time of COVID-19: An Environmental Perspective on the Pandemic’s Impact on Hospitals

“…In light of the pressing urgency to address environmental sustainability, some good practices to ponder are the use of environmentally friendly packaging, as well as the procurement of safe and reusable PPE (e.g., surgical gloves and masks) and recyclable or biodegradable materials. Quintana-Gallardo et al [36] analysed the environmental impact of different types of hospital gowns and implemented a pilot circular economy model using non-sterile surgical gowns as the core element of the project. Likewise, one could add the investment in non-burn waste-treatment technologies, such as autoclaves and reverse logistics, to ensure that materials such as plastics can have a second life.…”