I worked in TSSU in the uk and yes there's a lot of waste, huge amounts each night. I used to fill up and throw in the skips heaps of bags and yes probably the sollution is to just have solid but light bins that you can then transfer to the skips to go to incineration.the.fee.fairy wrote:Degradable bags ar preferable to the ones that are non-degradable, but not as good as biodegradable.
The problem with the bags is that once they're thrown away (either into landfill, or out of car windows...) they become a hazard for the local...and global wildlife.
Degradable bags are just as lethal inside the stomach of a whale as non-degradable.
Medical bags will still be available, but personally, i'd rather see all medical waste incinerated in sharps-style bins. At least that way they will definitely not leak, and there is less risk of contaminating either the person that picks them up, or the nearest wildlife.
Lots of stuff I did seemed quite enviro kind though, all the sets were wrapped in linen .... granted finished off with a paper wrap but not too bad.
Eventually we changed over to mainly metal boxes (kits) for the surgical sets with just filters for the autoclave process and that cut back on huge amounts of laundering and paper.
Also it cut down on dust in the department, which can't be good for the lungs can it.
