Plastic Contamination reached Hazardous Levels

The poisoning of the environment with Plastic has reached hazardous levels. It is now found in one out of every three fish taken for human consumption. Every minute, around a million Plastic bottles, are purchased around the world. Land contamination can deteriorate agricultural soil quality, affecting our food supply and developing stable infrastructure and overall quality of life. Every day, hospitals and healthcare systems generate over 23,000 pounds of garbage.

Eliminating single-use Plastic, which are widely utilized in hospitals and the medical device industry, is one of the most challenging tasks in the healthcare business. For example, Plastic retractors used to hold surgical wounds open are used only once for each patient and discarded as medical waste after the treatment. This is harmful to the environment and is constantly scrutinized in the healthcare industry.

Plastic accounts for 25% of a hospital’s waste, according to a survey undertaken by the non-profit organization Practice Greenhealth. Because single-use are inexpensive, easy to dispose of, and limit cross-contamination, they are a logical and safe alternative for hospitals. However, only 15% of healthcare waste is categorized as hazardous, with the rest being similar to the garbage we make at home or work, such as food containers or packaging material.

The reduction of Plastic might come from 85 percent of non-hazardous garbage. Single-use disposables are less expensive upfront, but replacing devices regularly is more costly in the long run. For example, neurosurgeons at a Canadian hospital decreased their expenditures by C$570,000 by lowering disposable use by 30%. Plastic gloves are another type of waste that may be readily minimized.