In its first few weeks, the program has recycled over 200kg of waste.
Calvary’s St Luke’s and St Vincent’s in Launceston have joined the Keep Me in the Loop program, which aims to recycle discarded sterilisation wraps from operating theatres into new, remanufactured products.
The program has expanded to include harder unsoiled plastics including bowls and bottles and has recycled over 200kg of material.
Calvary’s Hobart hospitals first trialled the program in May, resulting in 3700kg of material being recycled.
“It was several years ago. I looked at the amount of waste we were generating and thought we could be doing it better,” said theatre nurse Stephanie Robinson.
“I thought that we could make a difference in ways other than helping our patients, we can make a difference in the community. We can make an impact.
“Every tray of surgical instruments has the sterilised wrap covering it and in any given surgery you might use one tray, or 12, or 20, or more depending on the surgery. That’s a lot. If we can cut what goes to landfill by a third or a half, that’s great.”
Garry Stratton, manager of perioperative services for Calvary St Luke’s and St Vincent’s, said the organisation was committed to responsibly managing its resources now and into the future.
“I’m proud also that this initiative is being driven by staff themselves. Steph in particular has really been a driving force to make it happen,” said Mr Stratton.
GreenMed Managing Director Mat Usher says processing the clean hospital sterilisation wrap required little water use and releases no chemicals or toxins.
Medical courier vans, which often return to Hobart empty, are used to transport the material to a storage facility, helping to reduce costs and the transportation footprint.
“Our Keep Me in the Loop program aims to create products that can be recollected and re-recycled multiple times, ensuring we achieve the greatest bang for our environmental buck in hospital plastic use,” Mr Usher said.
“We are hoping to create a circular economy for healthcare waste.”