Environmental Sustainability Initiatives Keep 7.7 Tons of Medical Supplies Out of Landfills

Instead of wasting away in a landfill, more than seven tons of material, including unneeded and expired medical supplies, were whisked away from ChristianaCare’s Newark campus this past year, then donated to groups that use them with purpose. The efforts also have helped ChristianaCare significantly reduce its contribution to health care pollution.

The term “health care pollution” refers to the waste that hospitals produce while providing care to patients, as well as hospitals’ carbon emissions. The health care sector produces about 8.5% of all carbon emissions in the U.S., according to the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy.

Carbon emissions trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Members of ChristianaCare’s Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee are committed to finding creative ways to minimize the health system’s carbon footprint.

On the Newark campus, ChristianaCare’s Landfill Diversion Project and Medical Supply Donation Project are helping to reduce health care pollution. Both initiatives were started by Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee co-chair Deanna Benner, MSN, APRN, WHNP. The committee plans to expand these initiatives at ChristianaCare in the near future.

“The commitment that ChristianaCare has made to environmental sustainability signals a new way of providing health care with that lens in place,” said Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee co-chair Greg O’Neill, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC.

“Until you make a commitment like this, you may not even be aware how big of an issue it is and how significant the opportunities are that can make a difference.”

Out of the landfill and into good hands

During the past year, ChristianaCare’s Landfill Diversion Project has prevented 10,530 pounds of usable items – about the weight of an ambulance — from entering the landfill.

Through the Medical Supply Donation Project, ChristianaCare has donated more than 4,500 pounds of medical supplies – about the weight of an SUV – to groups that are eager to receive them.

Combined, these “green” initiatives have kept 7.7 tons of material out of landfills, helping ChristianaCare offset its environmental impact. Reducing what goes into landfills limits the greenhouse gases that are produced when organic waste, including textiles and paper, decompose.

“We have a moral obligation to be change agents, because it is our duty to protect health,” said Benner, a women’s health nurse practitioner. “By combining our expertise, education and influence, we can have a truly transformative impact on health care, ensuring a thriving planet for future generations.”

ChristianaCare donated expired medical supplies valued at $41,000 to Delaware-based schools in the past year.

Health care pollution contributes to excessive heat, poor air quality, and water contamination, all of which may cause illnesses that may lead to premature deaths, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The most vulnerable populations often experience these and other effects of climate change most significantly.

“Usually, they’re the least responsible for climate change, but they don’t have the resources to rebound from the effects of environmental harms,” Benner said. “At ChristianaCare, we try to decrease health disparities, but climate change has the ability to undo all of that good work. That’s why it’s so important that we address this.”

Unexpired medical supplies valued at $68,500 have gone to Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit that collects and distributes them to under-resourced medical centers worldwide.

ChristianaCare is committed to environmental sustainability and finding ways to decrease health disparities in vulnerable populations. ChristianaCare has signed the White House Climate Pledge, committing to use 100% renewable energy by 2025 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.

In April, ChristianaCare held its inaugural Climate and Health Conference to discuss climate change and possible solutions for health care systems. Earlier this year, ChristianaCare received an Environmental Excellence Gold Award from the medical technology company Stryker for its work to reduce the environmental impact of medical waste.

Putting outdated materials to good use

Last year, when Benner and ChristianaCare’s volunteer sustainability team inventoried the unused, unneeded medical supplies on the Newark campus that were slated to be thrown away, they discovered significant amounts of usable materials that were both expired and unexpired. Instead of allowing them to be disposed of, the team redistributes them.

Unexpired medical supplies go to Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit that collects and distributes medical supplies to under-resourced medical centers worldwide. Expired medical supplies go to local vocational schools and nursing colleges, where students use the supplies, including expired sutures, to learn and practice new skills.

“I’m thrilled that students are learning from supplies that would otherwise go into the landfills,” said Pamela Ramagano, MSN, RN, CNOR, a member of ChristianaCare’s Environmental Sustainability Caregiver Committee. “It’s also incredibly rewarding to see supplies loaded onto a container truck set for developing countries in desperate need of them.”

“We have a moral obligation to be change agents, because it is our duty to protect health.” — Deanna Benner

ChristianaCare’s sustainability team has donated unexpired medical supplies valued at $68,500 to Project C.U.R.E. and expired medical supplies valued at $41,000 to Delaware-based schools in the past year.

Benner and the sustainability team also prevent the hospital’s usable non-medical waste from entering the landfill. They donate unwanted office furniture to the local Habitat for Humanity Resale Store. And through the ChristianaCare Marketplace, an online swap group, ChristianaCare employees can advertise or purchase office furniture or medical supplies no longer needed by their teams for use in other parts of the organization.

“We’re trying to get every caregiver engaged in this work and to really make sustainability a lens of all decision-making, to reduce our environmental impact to protect health,” Benner said.