{"title":"The “6th R” of sustainability: Repurposing operating room waste for community benefit","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.115930","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Operating rooms contribute greatly to hospital waste and greenhouse gas production. Efforts to “green the operating room” have focused on the 5R's of sustainability: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, and research. We propose a “6th R” —repurposing— as simple yet effective means of addressing operating room waste.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Clean, non-reusable surgical supplies were collected from a satellite facility of a children's hospital during a six-week pilot program. Materials were catalogued and repurposed throughout the community. The potential financial benefits were estimated based upon the value of repurposed goods and savings from reduced waste disposal.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Over 960 items were collected during the 6-week pilot. Materials ranging from plastic trays to surgical towels were donated to organizations throughout the community. Approximate retail value of repurposed items was over $1200. When extrapolated to the entire hospital system, these repurposing efforts could account for over $50,000 in donations and $1300 in operational savings over a calendar year.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Repurposing unused surgical items provide environmental, societal, and financial benefits, all while promoting more sustainable healthcare systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7771,"journal":{"name":"American journal of surgery","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002961024004823/pdfft?md5=3aba372fb060a277f0919fc54f23db84&pid=1-s2.0-S0002961024004823-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American journal of surgery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002961024004823","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SURGERY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Operating rooms contribute greatly to hospital waste and greenhouse gas production. Efforts to “green the operating room” have focused on the 5R's of sustainability: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, and research. We propose a “6th R” —repurposing— as simple yet effective means of addressing operating room waste.
Methods
Clean, non-reusable surgical supplies were collected from a satellite facility of a children's hospital during a six-week pilot program. Materials were catalogued and repurposed throughout the community. The potential financial benefits were estimated based upon the value of repurposed goods and savings from reduced waste disposal.
Results
Over 960 items were collected during the 6-week pilot. Materials ranging from plastic trays to surgical towels were donated to organizations throughout the community. Approximate retail value of repurposed items was over $1200. When extrapolated to the entire hospital system, these repurposing efforts could account for over $50,000 in donations and $1300 in operational savings over a calendar year.
Conclusions
Repurposing unused surgical items provide environmental, societal, and financial benefits, all while promoting more sustainable healthcare systems.
期刊介绍:
The American Journal of Surgery® is a peer-reviewed journal designed for the general surgeon who performs abdominal, cancer, vascular, head and neck, breast, colorectal, and other forms of surgery. AJS is the official journal of 7 major surgical societies* and publishes their official papers as well as independently submitted clinical studies, editorials, reviews, brief reports, correspondence and book reviews.