It makes sense that one of the most fiscally responsible and socially meaningful waste management categories is hospital waste reduction. As a result, it has attracted the attention of hospital administrators as well as those who supervise veterinary clinics, medical offices, dentistry offices, and other similar biomedical businesses, and it is a subject that worries them constantly.
Salient points to be considered for efficient waste reduction and management are as follows:
Formal waste disposal management plan.
The foundation of the company’s procedure for disposing of medical waste is a well drafted & written Waste Management Plan. Companies that follow formal plans to eliminate confusion are significantly more inclined to sustain low costs compared to those that rely on the past knowledge of their employees, who regularly incur extra costs. The plan should be as detailed as possible in outlining how your business will manage regulated medical waste.
Proper training of employees
Maintaining a well-written, current strategy is essential, but so is spending time and effort training both new and existing personnel. Make time to assist them in reviewing the plan, testing their comprehension, and asking questions. Be sure to highlight the justification for each section of the plan. To demonstrate the effects of these regulations, associate costs with policies.
EPP as a Way Forward
Environmentally preferred buying (EPP) is weighing a product’s potential effects on the environment and human health before making a purchase and selecting the least detrimental options. Products containing mercury, chlorinated compounds, bromine, cadmium, lead, and chemicals that interfere with bodily processes, such as phthalates, can be avoided. For instance, the Stockholm County Council maintains a list of substances that should not be purchased for their city hospitals. EPP promotes a methodical, continuing procedure through which a hospital gradually improves and broadens the spectrum of its initiatives to choose safe, wholesome, and ecologically responsible goods and services.
Visual Cues & Signage
Visual elements can be quite efficient. To assist patients and staff to understand the guidelines and to encourage them to make the correct decisions, post signs all around facility that identify the categories of waste that should be disposed of in each container. Small suggestions like these can make a big difference in reducing the cost of medical disposal.
Conduct waste audits.
Periodic inspections of the medical waste disposal process are important for maintaining compliance and managing expenses, in addition to reviewing the formal plan at least once a year. It is imperative to make sure that the medical waste generated by the organisation is properly disposed of by conducting regular audits. Informing the personnel of the findings, and being ready to offer re-training if required is essential.
Proper Waste Classification and Segregation
The proper categorization of various medical waste items is crucial. It is to be emphasised that one must never dispose of unwanted medications, bulk chemotherapy trash, or traces of chemotherapy waste in red bag waste containers. To ensure proper handling, these materials should be segregated. Managers must be attentive and follow thoroughly thought-out procedures in order to cut costs and waste. To prevent a hazard to the environment and human health, different wastes must first be carefully identified, separated, and disposed of. The various waste streams (municipal, medical, infectious medical, hazardous, and low-level radioactive waste) will mix together and become uniformly hazardous if staff members find these procedures difficult to follow, necessitating the most expensive and environmentally harmful treatment options.
Segregation should be achieved, and policies should be easy for personnel to comprehend. Containers for separate garbage collection should be placed close to where the waste is produced, out of the way of staff members’ regular duties. The containers must have distinct labels. Staff can easily separate garbage using colour coding and symbols. Implementing segregation requires staff incentive and training.
Recycling
Different types of packaging make up more than half of all trash produced in the healthcare industry. The majority of this garbage does not come into direct touch with dangerous or infectious substances. It should not be combined with hazardous, infectious, or non-recyclable wastes and can frequently be recycled.
Waste Handling and Neutralisation
Treatment is required before infectious medical waste can be reduced to standard home waste. Microwave sanitation, thermal disinfection, and autoclaving are all possible forms of treatment. Hospitals should try to reduce the quantity of garbage they burn. Dioxins, furans, and toxic metals are among the very hazardous, accumulative, and persistent chemicals released into the environment by incineration wastes that are gaseous, solid, and liquid. More harmful emissions will be generated by incineration the more chlorine-containing items (such as PVC or polyvinyl plastic, sanitizers, bleached dressing materials, etc.), mercury, and chemical agents there are in the infectious waste stream.
The problem of addressing hospital procurement, improved non-medical waste segregation, and avoiding incineration are the key to better waste management. Many of our medical professionals are challenging established procedures and promoting healthier alternatives. In terms of social relevance, “reducing, reusing, and recycling” have come to be seen as essential to what is considered good & responsible management for any enterprise, whether it be public or private. Therefore, every programme focusing on sustainability and waste reduction in hospitals is crucial for your hospital’s external brand.
