From: Ian blenkharn@ianblenkharn.com
Category: Miscellaneous
Date: 16 Feb 2008
Time: 13:21:43 +0100
Remote Name: 86.134.111.185
Many people will know that I have questioned the validity of excessive waste segregation in healthcare, believing that this is generally unhelpful, costly in the management of multiple waste streams, unsafe as errors can occur and hazardous items enter an innocuous waste stream, and hugely inconvenient as a result of the increased logistics demands and space required to accommodate multiple waste containers.
In clinical areas, a fundamental policy shift that accommodates all wastes as either soft (for disposal in sacks) or sharps/hard waste (for bins and boxes) eliminates risk and provides opportunity for savings through economy of scale.
But waste volumes do need to be reduced, and those companies providing supplies to the health service have their part to play. As much packaging waste is discarded with clinical wastes I have previously advocated unit supply for wards and departments, with outer packaging materials removed, for recycling, in a local of district Stores Department.
Care is needed to ensure product integrity, but the system works in many hospitals and could be rolled out elsewhere to stop large volumes of cardboard waste being sent to wards. They don't want it and don't need it, but have to find space for it until someone arrives to take it away. It's crazy. And the manufacturers/suppliers? They too can do their bit, and Inviro Medical Devices have started the ball rolling (Infection Control Company Inviro Medical Devices Offers “Green” Solutions) by supplying products creating less medical waste than competitive products and by using more recyclable components in their safety syringes and packaging materials.
Products and packaging producing less waste, or perhaps having a dual function - for example, the outer packaging might be used as a sterile surface reducing the need for a separate sterile sheet and thereby reducing waste - are clearly the way to go.
I am a little concerned about the idea of recyclable materials for medical devices - it makes me wonder if there will be a suggestion for additional segregation of those recyclables, that might properly be treated as clinical wastes.
But with that proviso, Good luck to them.
First posted 23-Jan-2008