Background. Within the medical industry, operating rooms contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. As a pediatric hospital, we feel highly responsible to reduce the negative impact of healthcare aimed at improving young lives. Therefore, we conducted a pilot study to assess simple waste segregation and recycling strategies aimed at reducing waste and improving sorting and recycling in our operating quarters.Methods. The study was conducted at Hôpital Universitaire Des Enfants Reine Fabiola (HUDERF)'s operating quarters and consisted of a questionnaire addressing staff opinions and waste measurements before (T = 0) and after (T = 1) a weeklong intervention: a campaign aimed at improving sorting and recycling surgical waste and reducing unnecessary opening of materials.Results. Participants agreed that a transition towards more sustainable operating quarters will be necessary. At T = 1, 53% of respondents considered measures for sustainable waste management were applied, versus 27% before. Fifty-one surgeries were analyzed at T = 0. The mean weight of waste to incinerate was 1780 gram per hernia/orchidopexy, 940 gram per circumcision, and 2150 gram per central venous catheter (CVC) placement. At T = 1, another 51 surgeries were analyzed. The mean weight of waste to be incinerated was 665 gram per hernia/orchidopexy, 445 gram per circumcision, and 920 gram per CVC placement.Conclusion. Simple, easy-to-implement measures introduced during a one-week campaign aimed at improved triage and diminished pre-emptive opening of sterile materials led to a >50% reduction in waste to incinerate.
Weronika et al. (Thu,) studied this question.