Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Sustainability Team has recognized its main operating room staff on Earth Day April 20 for implementing and maintaining sustainable practices, according to Waste Management World:
One such sustainability plan put into place by the Main OR staff involved medical supplies involved in laparoscopic usage during a procedure. Much is disposable and not reusable. But the instrumentation once used is recyclable. Plastic parts can be grinded and/or melted down; metal components of copper and steel can be separated, recovered and reused. “Due to our case load, we might use a dozen specific devices a day and instead of them now ending up in a landfill, each is recycled,” said Stevenson….
…The Main OR used to throw away three, 30-gallon bags of garbage per total joint surgery case. Now they recycle three, 30-gallon bags of plastic and have just one 15-gallon bag that is now thrown away.