A letter-to-the-editor of The New York Times, Hospitals and Recycling (07/12/10):
To the Editor:
Re “In a World of Throwaways, Making a Dent in Medical Waste” (July 6): In addition to operating rooms, radiology departments are heavy producers of medical waste. Often what is thrown away may be reusable, and may also not qualify as true medical waste.
Our Department of Radiology at University of Arkansas in Little Rock averaged 1,000 lbs per week before we began a program to reduce this to only what was necessary. Over one year we reduced our medical waste to 135 lbs per week, with marked reduction in costs. It’s good to be green!
Philip J. Kenney, M.D.
Little Rock, Ark.