“ We collect , decontaminate , clean , repair , functionally test , disinfect , sterilise , package and return ‘ single-use ’ devices to a majority of US hospitals ”
DANIEL J . VUKELICH , ESQ . PRESIDENT & CEO OF AMDR
and reuse them . Global shipping would be dramatically reduced , resulting in emissions that are roughly halved .
“ Reusable or reprocessable products are preferable to disposable products . Demands made by healthcare professionals , in terms of the medical devices and supplies they use , will bend the larger industry to providing more financially and environmentally responsible options ,” he says .
Over 80 % of greenhouse gas emissions from hospitals come from the supply chain , known as Scope 3 emissions . For Vukelich , that ’ s where the focus should be .
The healthcare sector is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases .
“ It ’ s the only sector where the employees have pledged a commitment to ‘ do no harm ’, yet have wasteful practices at hospitals that do ,” says Vukelich . “ Infection control practices , in part , led to a reliance on disposable equipment to do no harm to the patient in front of us . But the mountains of trash our disposable culture generates creates an environmental nightmare of a problem , and it also causes adverse impacts on health .”
The global supply chain required to create all of these disposable devices generates enormous greenhouse gas emissions , raising temperatures and causing adverse health outcomes associated with increased floods , fires , droughts and other related weather patterns . But burning all this disposable trash
90 March 2023