Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 8, 2026
Biobank for Translational Medicine: Standard Operating Procedures for Optimal Sample Management
Published on: November 30, 2022
Managing barriers to recycling in the operating room
Solomon Azouz1, Piper Boyll2, Marco Swanson3
1Division of Plastic Surgery, Mayo Clinic Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Background:
Among hospital staff, little is known concerning barriers to recycling and perception of waste in the operating room (OR), despite continued improvement in recycling programs. This study sought to identify barriers to OR recycling and implement a recycling improvement educational program.
Methods:
A survey was administered within Mayo Clinic at four campuses. Based on survey results, a recycling improvement program was devised and implemented at a surgery center in Paradise Valley, Arizona. A cost-savings analysis was performed thereafter.
Results:
Of 524 participants, 56.7% reported being unclear which OR items are recyclable, and 47.7% thought the greatest barrier to recycling was lack of knowledge. After implementation of the recycling educational program, cost savings of 10.3% (p = 0.004) were achieved in sharps waste disposal when compared to the previous year at the surgery center.
Conclusions:
Addressing barriers to recycling in the OR can significantly reduce waste and save valuable healthcare dollars.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Cardiomyopathy VII: Pre and Post Operative Nursing Management
00:58Recycling Endosomes and Transcytosis
The recycling endosome is not a single organelle but an extensively tubulated network of recycling pathways. It functions in storing molecules or transporting them across...
01:17Operational Amplifiers
01:27Real Number Operations
01:25Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...
01:20Vector Operations
A vector multiplied by a scalar value is called scalar multiplication. The result obtained is a new vector with a different magnitude. If the scalar is positive, the direction of the vector remains the same, but if it is negative, the direction of the vector is reversed. For example, the product of the mass and velocity yields the momentum.