Plastic waste and its littering is a cause for concern around the world. Single-use plastics have been banned as they represent the maximum of discarded plastics
This is how the amount of waste is generated single-use plastics in healthcare has an alarming impact on the environment. In the UK alone, the NHS discards around 133,000 tonnes of plastic each year, of which only 5% is recycled. From gloves to surgical equipment, plastic has revolutionized the healthcare industry, providing a cost-effective and adaptable option for manufacturing a wide variety of products. While single-use plastic is necessary for infection prevention and control in many areas of care, there are ways to reduce its use and introduce more reusable alternatives. More and more strategies to support this are being put in place.
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A new project has been launched in the UK entitled ‘Towards plastic-free healthcare in Europe’ health care without harm Europe’s Circular Healthcare Project.
It is known that plastic is a very useful material for the health industry, It is cheap to manufacture and can be molded to create a range of health products. The problem is that there’s just too much of it and it’s not always necessary and not reused where it could be.
Differences in culture from one country to another and awareness of the real risks involved with processes can also affect the use of plastic. Many hospitals are doing a good job of reducing plastic use and we know solutions are available, which is encouraging.
There are many ways to reduce disposable gloves and there is a project called ‘Gloves are off!’ in the UK aimed to reduce the unnecessary use of non-sterile gloves. They managed to reduce glove orders from 11.1 million to 6.8 million, saving over £100,000. It turned out that staff used gloves too much because they thought they would protect the patient, even though gloves posed a greater risk of cross-contamination as staff simply used gloves instead of hand washing. The team also continued the awareness campaign during COVID, showing again that gloves are not necessary for every healthcare situation. A hospital participating in the “Towards plastic-free healthcare in Europe” The project showed that gloves accounted for almost 18% of total plastic consumption after analyzing sourcing data.
It is said that there can be risks with microplastics and the harmful chemicals they contain, and judging by how much scientists are warning us about these risks, it is important to think about prevention and not just wait, someone research to prove the extent of the problem.
In addition to the use of plastic, there is also the production and disposal of plastic. A lot of plastic is incinerated, even in incinerators it still gets incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals. The communities living next to incinerators tend to be already underprivileged, and this inequality is increasing as they are most affected by these production and disposal processes.
It’s hard to know the true recycling rates for healthcare plastics and in general there is so little transparency in the process and numbers vary across Europe and healthcare rates are very low compared to general use plastics and more up Set prevention and reduce plastic from the start.
There is some encouragement and pressure for hospitals to recycle their single-use plastics and waste in general, but they face many challenges. For example, recycling companies don’t always accept healthcare plastics, which is not correct as 85% of healthcare plastic is non-hazardous, it’s just like the general waste you would recycle at home. It’s hard to know how different countries deal with it, and that’s a problem
Great efforts are being made in the Nordic countries to reduce single-use plastics. Sometimes these efforts are driven by regulations, but other times institutions at the local level join forces to make incremental changes.
Therefore, a reduction in unnecessary or reduced use of plastics and packaging is required and a holistic approach is required while considering the use of plastics in human healthcare.
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- Sameer Joshi, Ph.D.
- Sharang Ambadkar
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SINGLE-USE PLASTICS & HEALTH CARE – HOW DO WE START FROM HERE, THE UK EXAMPLE
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In the UK, Health Care Without Harm Europe’s Circular Healthcare Project has launched a new project entitled ‘Towards plastic-free healthcare in Europe’.
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TPT News Bureau
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THE POLITICAL TIMES
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