Healthcare professionals carry out detailed waste management workflows for a wide variety of reasons. This includes the need to protect the environment around us and minimise infection risks for clinicians, patients and anyone else who may come into contact with an item.
It’s important to understand how the current workflows best serve the environment, and recognise opportunities to optimise everyday workflows. This can have a positive effect on the world in turn, and even the smallest responsibilities can make a difference.
In summary, clinical waste management is crucial for minimising infection risk and protecting the environment from contamination (e.g. the mercury in amalgam) and high carbon emissions from incineration. Effective waste segregation and sustainable containers are key to optimising workflows.
How much clinical waste is produced in healthcare?
NHS providers produce an estimated 156,000 tonnes of clinical waste every year, which is sent to high-temperature incineration or for alternative treatment. It is noted that this has a significant environmental impact and high carbon emissions.
There are many types of clinical waste handled by healthcare providers. Some types, such as offensive waste, are more unpleasant than they are harmful. In essence, all bark and very little bite! Others, including infectious, chemically contaminated, pharmaceutical, anatomical, or cytotoxic/cytostatic waste, present very real risks to those that come into contact with them.
How does clinical waste affect the environment?
During care, clinicians and patients usually benefit from wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimise the risk of harm. Waste handlers will also be prepared with PPE and equipment to manage these items. However, everyday members of the population, wildlife, and green spaces will not have the same protections. If a potentially dangerous waste item is somehow missed out of the waste workflow and incorrectly placed in a municipal waste bag, there is every chance it could end up on the street or in the natural environment.
For this reason, waste segregation routines must be carried out diligently. Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 provides detailed insight into the need for the clinical waste colour code. This can be used throughout the healthcare environment to ensure all items are separated correctly, according to their waste management needs.
The Role of Waste Segregation in Preventing Landfill Pollution
Waste segregation also helps the environment by preventing dangerous items from reaching landfill, where they may present a risk. For example, dental professionals regularly use amalgam to restore teeth. Its mercury content, which can accumulate in waterways and sediment and become methylmercury, is harmful to organisms in the environment. It may also enter our food chain (especially through fish) and put humans at risk of nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory and immune system problems.
For this reason, amalgam is managed at specific facilities. However, it can only find this final step if the entire waste process is followed correctly, beginning with waste segregation.
Reducing Carbon Footprint in Medical Waste Disposal
The Waste Hierarchy is an established framework that prioritises waste management actions based on environmental impact, moving from most favourable to least favourable. Its order of preference is to prevent waste from being created, then prepare waste for reuse, followed by recycling, then other forms of recovery (such as alternative treatment), and finally,disposal (such as incineration or landfill). This framework ensures that the most environmentally damaging options are only pursued when strictly necessary.
No two waste types present the same risks. Similarly, no two waste types will have the same waste disposal methods. Whilst infectious, medical and anatomical waste in yellow containers requires incineration or alternative treatment, and known infectious waste in orange bins can also be disposed of via alternative treatment facilities or incineration, the waste hierarchy tries to avoid incineration for the latter where possible.
Over-classification means more waste items are sent to incineration or alternative treatment every year, which isn’t always sustainable.
Incineration is still needed to render many items safe and eliminate the risks presented by specific waste products. However, incineration does produce large volumes of CO2, contributing to the climate crisis.
Choosing Sustainable Waste Containers
It’s worthwhile considering environmentally-friendly waste container options for healthcare sites. After all, these items will need to be disposed of at some point, and it is in the power of clinicians to choose those that meet regulatory needs, whilst being better for the world around us.
To minimise the environmental footprint of healthcare practices, look to Initial Medical and suppliers who use recycled plastic content in their products, including clinical waste bags made from 30% recycled plastic. Colour-coded in line with a healthcare practices’ needs, they are a sustainable solution to the disposal of soft waste items. Initial Medical also provides sharps containers made from at least 40% recycled plastic.
To find out more about how sustainable clinical waste solutions can be integrated into your practice, explore Initial Medical’s range of products.