Talking trash

The health of the environment is critical to the health of populations. Healthcare, however, is not known for environmental sustainability. In addition to concerns about energy and fresh water consumption, landfill waste poses a particular challenge. Hospitals in the US produce over 13 kg of waste every day for each staffed bed.1 The UK NHS generates 1% of all domestic waste in the UK2 and discards over 63 000 metric tons of waste each year.3 Landfill waste adversely affects human health4 5 and accelerates climate change by releasing greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide, during decomposition.6 Despite their critical role in managing healthcare resources, clinicians are rarely engaged or poorly trained in efforts to minimise hospital waste.

The prevailing view that most hospital waste needs special handling is incorrect. All hospital waste falls into one of several categories—hazardous items including cleaning agents and chemotherapeutics; regulated medical waste, which is …