HOSPITAL & HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE
Liam Smith from Tork manufacturer Essity considers the ways in which hospital waste can be kept down to a minimum in the National Health Service - including cutting down on disposable paper products.
The UK government has announced a new strategy aimed at reducing the amount of waste produced in NHS hospitals.
Published in October 2024, the Design for Life Roadmap strategy includes radically reducing the number of single- use medical items used in hospitals.
The government points out that tens of millions of disposable items are currently being binned after just one use. Disposable medical devices substantially contribute to the 156,000 tonnes of clinical waste that the NHS produces every year in England alone.
There are now plans in place for NHS chiefs to work with manufacturers in a bid to produce more sustainable products, cut down on waste in hospitals and to reuse, remanufacture and recycle wherever possible in the healthcare sector.
Any sustainable decision represents a win for the environment. Hospitals, like all other public facilities, need to do whatever they can to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste during their day-to-day operations.
One way in which they can achieve this is by cutting down on paper waste. Hospitals use a great deal of paper for a variety of applications including wiping and drying the hands of medical staff and cleaning down surfaces. All efforts, then, need to be made to control the consumption of such products.
No-one is suggesting that healthcare workers should skimp on their hand hygiene or cut corners on cleaning protocols. But the systems in place to facilitate these actions should make it difficult for the user to take more paper than they need. Not only will this be good for the environment, it will also reduce costs at a time when every facility is strapped for cash.
For example, all Tork dispensers are designed to give out hand towels, cloths and wipers one at a time. This means each healthcare worker will only take out the amount of paper they need when wiping their hands or surfaces.
The dispensers are also designed to protect the paper inside before use. Loose wiping rolls could easily become damp, soiled or contaminated in a healthcare environment which means the entire roll might need to be discarded, creating unnecessary waste. This will dramatically push up the costs of the facility’s paper supply.
Paper consumption can be further reduced if the cleaning staff are equipped with Tork Microfibre Cleaning Cloths.
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These are designed to pick up and retain any particles on the cleaning surface. Tork Microfibre Disposable Cleaning Cloths – designed for use in critical areas such as operating theatres, surgical suites and isolation wards – are thrown away after use but Tork Microfibre Reusable Cleaning Cloths can be washed and reused up to 300 times.
The hands of healthcare workers need to be washed and dried frequently during every shift, and disposable towels are recommended for hand-drying in healthcare. This is because each user is supplied with a fresh, clean sheet of paper every time and the drying process is swift, thorough and hygienic.
C-fold towels were once the standard hand-drying medium in hospitals but these have multiple disadvantages. It is relatively difficult to take out only one towel at a time from a C-fold dispenser, for example, which means that most users will extract a clump of towels. The unwanted products will then be discarded and ultimately wasted, driving up costs while having a negative environmental impact.
All hand towel dispensers should therefore be designed to give out only one sheet of paper at a time to help to reduce paper waste. For example, the Tork PeakServe Continuous Hand Towel Dispenser gives out sheets of paper singly so that washroom users are discouraged from taking out more than they need. The dispenser holds up to 2,100 towels which means it is particularly suitable for general hospital washrooms attended by both patients and visitors.
The Tork Matic Soft Hand Towel Roll is ideal for use in washrooms and wash stations used by healthcare staff because the extra-soft towel will prevent chapping and soreness even with frequent use. And again, the dispenser has been designed to give out one towel at a time.
Hospitals can achieve further sustainability gains by changing their toilet roll systems. Jumbo rolls are often provided in large institutions because these ensure a long-lasting supply of paper. However, it is all too easy for the user to tear off an extra-long strip of paper from a jumbo roll which leads to over-consumption and even potentially blocked toilets as well. It can also be hard for the cleaner to predict when the paper is likely to run out which means that he or she might be tempted to change a roll before it is entirely empty, discarding and ultimately wasting the remainder.
The Tork SmartOne Twin Mini Toilet Roll System reduces consumption up to 40% compared with jumbo roll
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