A recycling quality improvement project to engage the multidisciplinary team with sustainability efforts

The provision of healthcare itself contributes to the global health crisis of the climate emergency. As critical care is a carbon hotspot within hospital medicine, healthcare professionals must take collaborative action to mitigate the environmental impact of the sector.

The purpose of the project was to engage the critical care multidisciplinary team with sustainability efforts, through involvement in a recycling Quality Improvement Project (QIP). The central QIP aimed to increase the recycling rates of single-use plastic enteral feed bottles in the intensive care unit (ICU) over a 31-day period.

A recycling 'challenge month' was launched, and staff opinion was surveyed before and after this intervention.

The QIP demonstrated an increase in feed bottle recycling by 53.2%, representing a carbon-saving effect of up to 6.02 kg CO2e for the intervention month. Following the central QIP, all survey respondents felt encouraged to consider their ICU's environmental impact.

Simple successful QIPs can act as a springboard to engage the staff body with sustainability initiatives and ignite wider conversation and consideration of the climate emergency in daily practice.

Effective recycling constitutes only one element of responsible environmental stewardship, but authors discuss that it is an effective focus for QIPs. To maximize impact and success within critical care, nursing involvement in leading and participation is essential.