Surgical instrument wrap: a pilot recycling initiative

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Waste Management
• Sustainable Surgical Practices
• Environmental Impact of Hospitals

Background:

• Operating theatres generate substantial waste, with surgical wrap constituting 11% of this volume.
• Hospitals in Ireland produce significant amounts of general and healthcare risk waste from operating theatres.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a recycling program for surgical instrument set wrap in an Irish operating theatre.
• To quantify surgical wrap diverted from general waste to recycling over five weeks.
• To estimate annual carbon emissions from gynaecology surgical wrap use in Cork.

Main Methods:

• Prospective quantification of polypropylene surgical wrap generated in a gynaecology theatre.
• Measurement of individual wrap sheets to calculate total surface area recycled.
• Data collected over a five-week period from January to March 2022.

Main Results:

• 221 sheets of surgical wrap (282.1 m²) were collected over five weeks.
• An estimated 11,564 m² of surgical wrap could be recycled annually from gynaecology services.
• Potential annual carbon emission reduction of at least 2.2 tonnes of CO₂.

Conclusions:

• Diverting surgical wrap to recycling streams is feasible in all operating theatres.
• Modifying waste disposal practices can significantly decrease theatre waste.
• Implementing recycling initiatives reduces hospital carbon footprints effectively.