WEDNESDAY, Mar. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Social attitudes, legal barriers and logistical and institutional restrictions all undermine efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in the hospital setting in the United Kingdom, according to an article published online Mar. 10 in BMJ.
David C.J. Hutchins and Stuart M. White, of Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, U.K., write that an anesthetic waste audit at their hospital found that approximately 950 kg of waste per theater per year -- 40 percent of the total -- is potentially recyclable paper, card, plastics and glass, and note that in 2005 to 2006, the National Health Service generated 408,218 tons of waste, of which 29 percent was clinical waste.
Barriers to waste reduction and recycling include unwillingness by staff to do the initial waste segregation, theater suite waste management systems that are not designed to facilitate recycling, and complex statutes and rules regarding the handling, transportation and disposal of clinical waste, the authors state.
"Rethinking is required at several levels. Nationally, we need to reconsider some of the stringent statutes that inhibit individuals and organizations from innovating in this area," the authors write. "Hospitals need government support to change current waste management strategies (with major emphasis on waste reduction and recycling), and to consider, for example, entering into partnerships with local recycling firms and accepting input from environmental groups."
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