Auditing Operating Room Recycling: A Management Case Report

Much waste arises from operating rooms (ORs). We estimated the practical and financial feasibility of an OR recycling program, weighing all waste from 6 ORs in Melbourne, Australia. Over 1 week, 237 operations produced 1265 kg in total: general waste 570 kg (45%), infectious waste 410 kg (32%), and...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	A & A case reports Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 47 - 50
Main Authors:	McGain, Forbes, Jarosz, Katherine Maria, Nguyen, Martin Ngoc Hoai Huong, Bates, Samantha, O'Shea, Catherine Jane
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-08-2015
Subjects:	Australia Humans Infection Control - standards Management Audit Medical Waste Disposal - methods Medical Waste Disposal - statistics & numerical data Operating Rooms - organization & administration Recycling - economics Recycling - statistics & numerical data Australia
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Much waste arises from operating rooms (ORs). We estimated the practical and financial feasibility of an OR recycling program, weighing all waste from 6 ORs in Melbourne, Australia. Over 1 week, 237 operations produced 1265 kg in total: general waste 570 kg (45%), infectious waste 410 kg (32%), and recyclables 285 kg (23%). The achieved recycling had no infectious contamination. The achieved recycling/potential recycling rate was 285 kg/517 kg (55%). The average waste disposal costs were similar for general waste and recycling. OR recycling rates of 20%-25% total waste were achievable without compromising infection control or financial constraints.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Case Study-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-4 content type line 23 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3
ISSN:	2325-7237 2325-7237
DOI:	10.1213/XAA.0000000000000097