Zero Waste: Environmental Management Programmes For Health Care Organisations

(From Environmental Management Programmes for Health Care Organisations, by Caroline Evans, Environmental Management Coordinator, Capital Coast Health Ltd., Wellington).

As yet there is no national plan to encourage health care organisations to minimise the quantity and/ or toxicity of waste produced and to ensure that all wastes are disposed of appropriately in an environmentally responsible manner. As a result, hundreds of thousands of health care dollars are being needlessly spent every year on burying and burning health care waste at an even greater cost to the environment. A national plan and clear guidelines on waste management are needed urgently for the health care industry, which will lead to significant reduction in pollution and less health care dollars being spent on waste disposal.

Hospitals and other health care organisations are in the business of providing quality health care services, yet many of their actions are likely to lead to long term health problems for the very communities which they provide for, if current policies and practices continue. One of the most significant issues to be addressed is the use and disposal of mercury and the incineration of PVC products, both of which are in abundance in health care facilities.

Health care organisations, such as hospitals, resthomes and GP clinics, must therefore take a proactive role in implementing an environmental management programme to ensure internal policies and practices minimise adverse environmental and public health impacts. A major catalyst for adopting such a programme will be the financial savings achieved.

Environmental management in hospitals has been well researched internationally, generally driven by the need to contain costs associated with purchasing disposable products and in particular, the disposal of waste. New Zealand is likely to follow international trends and see steadily rising waste disposal costs and more stringent regulations placed on hospitals to minimise both the quantity and toxicity of waste produced.

In order to maximise the outcome of an environmental management program, health care organisations and local authorities need to work together to ensure long term benefits to communities, such as reduced emissions to air, land and water, and reduce waste costs and liability to health care organisations.