Sustainability interventions in nursing wards
ADL
Recycling incontinence materials
Incontinence materials are used for various patient groups in hospitals. By processing incontinence materials as a separate waste stream, resources can be recovered and reused.
Intervention
Separate collection of incontinence material and recycling. Exclusion: incontinence material with cytostatic residues.
Implementation approach
- Due to the limited capacity to recycle incontinence material in the Netherlands, it is not always possible to offer incontinence material to the waste-to-energy plant. It is expected that capacity will increase in the coming years due to changing laws and regulations. Identify in advance how many kilograms of incontinence material your hospital wants to offer using the conversion example. This can be found in the Teams channel if your hospital participates in the program Greening healthare together. Notify the waste-to-energy plant in your area of your interest in recycling and how much you expect to offer.
- Despite this limited recycling capacity, this intervention can be implemented in the hospital. Collect the incontinence material separately in the nursing wards. Work with the facilities department to offer this separated waste to the logistics department and waste-to-energy plant. Can't the waste-to-energy plant recycle yet? Segregation in advance makes it possible to respond to the future new recycling capacity and makes rapid change possible. See resources for more guidance and implementation tips.
Environmental impact
Measured in CO2 -emissions from waste separation and recovery of raw materials from incontinence material. Want to know more about the environmental impact? See the bottom of this page for more information.
Current situation
Incontinence material is collected and incinerated at the waste treatment plant
- Burn 1,000 kg = 377.2 kg CO2-eq
New situation
Incontinence material is collected and recycled at the waste treatment plant
- Recycle 1,000 kg = -270.8 kg CO2-eq
Provides +648 kg of CO2-eq on!
Incineration costs energy and recycling actually provides materials and energy. That's why recycling incontinence material returns more energy than it costs. The plastic pellets that are released are used, for example, to make flower pots and benches.
2,982 adult incontinence pants (≈ 1,000 kg incontinence material) saves
648
kg CO2-eq
and is equivalent to driving 3,324 km
When was it implemented?
This intervention is considered implemented when incontinence material in the hospital is separately collected for recycling, and the difference in CO₂ equivalent (kg) has been calculated.
How is this measured?
Determine the number of kilograms of incontinence material that is separately collected for recycling using waste management data or using purchasing data if it is not recycled yet. To calculate the killograms, use the calculation example and enter the number of kilograms in the environmental impact calculator. These can be found in the Teams channel if your hospital participates in the Greening healthcare together program.
Resources
Click here for more information about the recycling process.
Click here for the guide to sustainable incontinence care.
Click here for an example from Sophia Children's Hospital where incontinence material is separately collected for recycling.
Click here for an example from the UK, where a separate collection method for incontinence material was introduced on a pediatric ward.
View our other interventions
Nursing practice
Reusable non-sterile suture removal set
Sutures can be removed with sterile disposable materials such as gauze, cotton swabs, tweezers, and scissors or a stitch cutter. The tweezers and scissors do not need to be sterile and can be replaced by clean, reusable ones that are cleaned and disinfected. This means the final sterilisation step is omitted after cleaning and disinfection. Mechanical cleaning (thermal disinfection) is preferred over manual cleaning.
Nursing practice
Wound care irrigation with tapwater
For acute wounds (traumatic or surgical), irrigation using a female catheter filled with lukewarm tap water is recommended instead of NaCl 0.9%. This increases patient comfort and reduces material use, as a new sterile NaCl 0.9% bottle or sterile collection tray is no longer needed every 24 hours.
