Going Green In The Operating Room

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• Going Green In The Operating Room

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Embarrassing Statistic

• North Americans (Canada, US, Mexico) comprise 8
  of the worlds population YET we produce 50 of
  the worlds garbage AND consume more than 33 of
  its resources!
• ( Canadians produce 3 to 5lbs of garbage a day.
  If everybody in the world consumed resources like
  Canadians we would need 4 earths to provide all
  the material and energy we currently use)

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The 3 Rs of Recycling

• REDUCE
• REUSE
• RECYCLE

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Know your waste stream

• Saline Bottles
• Irrigation Bottles
• Water Bottles
• Cleaning Bottles
• Cardboard (supplies)
• Paper (case cards)
• Gowns (paper or reusable)
• Garbage Bags

• Glass (medication)
• Sharps
• Metal
• Batteries
• Light Bulbs
• Blue Sterile Wrap
• Paper Drapes
• Gloves

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What can be recycled in your municipalities
recycling program?

• Saline Bottles
• Glass Bottles (medication)
• Irrigation Bottles
• Water Bottles
• Cleaning Bottles
• Cardboard (supplies)
• Paper (case cards)
• Gowns (paper or reusable)
• Paper Drapes

• Sharps
• Metal
• Batteries
• Light Bulbs
• Blue Sterile Wrap
• Gloves
• Garbage Bags

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Whats left?Is their any potential for
recycling besides your municipal recycling
program?

• Sharps
• Metal
• Batteries
• Light Bulbs
• Blue Sterile Wrap
• Gloves
• Garbage Bags

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Batteries

• Stewardship Ontario
• Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW)
  Program
• www.stewardshipontario.ca

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Primary Batteries

• Proper containers for collection
• Your collector is registered with Stewardship
  Ontario
• Batteries included in phase 1 are
• Zinc Carbon (ZnC), Alkaline, Lithium, Zinc
  button cell, and Silver oxide
• The province picks up the tab for collection and
  recycling!!!!

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Who can provide the recycling service?

• Raw Material Company
• Please contact to request a proposal
• sales_at_rawmaterials.com

• Drain-All Ltd.
• 613-549-7995

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Dont forget about the 3 Rs!!!

• Is their potential to reduce or reuse this
  product?

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Why worry about where batteries end up?

• Each year in Ontario about 5,000 tonnes of
• single-use batteries are discarded. Of those,
• less than 250 tonnes, about 5 per cent, are
• recycled.
• Batteries "are toxic little time bombs." Some
  contain
• heavy metals, such as cadmium, lead, chromium and
• mercury.

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Light Bulbs
Contact Aevitas Ph 519.740.3334 ext.
35 Website www.aevitas.ca Contact Stewardship
Ontario www.stewardshipontario.ca
Contact EWSWA- your local municipality PH
1-800-265-9625 Email ask_at_ewswa.org website
www.ewswa.org
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Why worry about where fluorescent light bulbs end
up?

• Compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury.
  Mercury is an
• extremely hazardous waste and is a major health
  concern when it
• comes in contact with humans and animals because
  it is a neurotoxin. The
• mercury contained in 30 million lamps 687
  lbs/312kg of mercury
• (which are currently disposed of in Ontario
  landfills per year) is enough to
• contaminate a body of water larger than Lake Erie
  to the point where all
• the fish would be unfit for consumption.
• 10 million of those lamps are from the ICI
  sector.

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Gloves

• REDUCE?
• REUSE?
• RECYCLE?

• Cloth reusable gloves
• Potential to buy gloves
• made from recycled content
• Potential to have the gloves recycled

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Garbage Bags

• Only empty when full-if possible
• Make sure you have the right sized garbage bag
  for your garbage can
• Buy garbage bags from 100 recycled content

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Blue Sterile Wrap - represents about 19 of all
surgical service waste

• Dominicans Blue Sterile Wrap Program-Santa Cruz
  California
• Set-up 24 hours
• Management Support 4 hours per month
• Custodial Labor 7 hours per month
• Recycling Total 8 tons in 12 months
• Per Month Average 1,300 lbs per month
• Total Diversion Savings 544 This effort would
  be required without the recycling program as the
  blue wrap would still be managed as a solid waste
  

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• Dominicans Blue Sterile Wrap Program-Santa Cruz
  California
• Sterile Wrap and Plastic Film Recycling
• [phone]
• Mary Ellen

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Dont forget the Rs!

• Many hospitals are autoclaving their surgery
  tools
• and instruments in hard cases which do not
  require
• the use of Blue Wrap.
• Reducing is always better then recycling!!!
• REDUCEREUSE RECYCLE

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Did you know?

• All red and blue box material is banned from the
  Essex-Windsor landfill
• Ontario has set a target of 60 diversion
• ON reg. 103/94-Source Separation for ICI
• ON reg. 102/94-Waste Audits and Waste Reduction
  Workplans for ICI

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What else can we do?

• Buy products that are mercury free, formaldehyde
  free, PVC free
• Change products from DISPOSALE to DURABLE (i.e.
  durable plastic or steel containers for sterile
  equipment instead of disposable plastic)
• Practice green purchasing

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Environmentally preferable products are generally

• Less toxic
• Minimally polluting
• More energy efficient
• Safer and healthier for patients, workers, and
  the environment
• With higher recycled content
• With less packaging
• Fragrance-free

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• Heather TaylorProgram Assistant-Special
  ProjectsWaste DiversionEssex Windsor Solid
  Waste Authority519-776-6441 ext.
  395htaylor_at_ewswa.org