Title |
The Gold in Garbage: Implementing a Waste Segregation and Recycling Initiative
|
---|---|
Published in |
AORN Journal, February 2016
|
DOI | 10.1016/j.aorn.2016.01.014 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Kerstin H Wyssusek, Wai Mee Foong, Catherine Steel, Brigid M Gillespie |
Abstract |
Generally, ORs produce approximately one-fifth to one-third of all waste in a hospital. Before our quality improvement project was performed in our tertiary care facility, all OR waste was disposed of as clinical waste. Disposal of clinical waste is more costly than disposal of general waste. Therefore, accurately segregating waste can have significant financial incentives. Our quality improvement project involved the implementation of processes that segregated general waste in the OR from clinical waste and translated to an almost 60% reduction of waste disposal costs for OR waste. Further, we implemented a recycling program that reclaimed a portion of the general waste. In total, our efforts reduced the amount of clinical waste produced by the OR by 82%, and the amount of total OR waste was reduced by more than 50%. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 92 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 17 | 18% |
Student > Bachelor | 15 | 16% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 7% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 5% |
Student > Postgraduate | 5 | 5% |
Other | 11 | 12% |
Unknown | 33 | 36% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 16 | 17% |
Engineering | 9 | 10% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 7 | 8% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 6 | 7% |
Environmental Science | 5 | 5% |
Other | 21 | 23% |
Unknown | 28 | 30% |