Climate change negatively impacts human health, and yet the healthcare industry is one of the largest generators of waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A significant portion of these GHG emissions comes from the production, transport, and disposal of medical equipment, ultimately becoming waste. Within the hospital, about 30 percent of waste is generated in the operating room (OR). The purpose of this study was to determine how much waste was leaving the OR. Two 5-day OR audits at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Service found that 231.3 kg of total waste was generated per day, of which 84.5, 8.83, 2.79, and 3.88 percent were general, recyclable, biohazard, and blue wrap waste, respectively. By studying the amounts and types of waste that different hospitals produce, a systems-approach could be applied to waste reduction in the OR and effect policy change that would promote environmental sustainability in the hospital setting.
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