Hollywood Private Hospital is taking 'going green' to another level with a new sustainability initiative for its operating rooms.
The Perth facility has already switched to using a more environmentally-friendly anaesthetic gas, and is now looking at ways to recycle the medical plastics used in its theatres.
Thanks to a partnership with waste management company Suez, plastic items such as bowls, kidney dishes, bottles, trays and syringes are being turned into pellets of material used for making irrigation, gardening and landscaping products.
The hospital's new scheme is being organised by its Green Theatres Group, a subcommittee of the Hollywood Environmental Committee, while Suez has provided guidance on what can be recycled.
"Staff are encouraged to recycle the plastic items into recycling bins for collection by Suez," Clerical Clinical Nurse Manager Suzanne Thompson said.
"Suez then clean and sterilize the plastic items before delivering them to Claw Environmental in Welshpool, to be turned into the pelletised material."
In line with hospital owner Ramsay Health Care Australia's sustainability strategy, the Hollywood Environmental Committee is also implementing schemes to recycle batteries and PVC products, along with phasing out anaesthetic gas desflurane in favour of sevoflurane.
Batteries from medical equipment with more than 80 percent charge are sold to staff for household use, while those with less life left are sent to an industrial recycling company for disposal.
Masks, oxygen tubing and intravenous drip bags made out of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) are being turned into products such as gumboots, garden hoses and children's play mats.
Hollywood Private Hospital is also helping Ramsay Health Care to reach its goal of removing 50 million single-use plastic items from its nationwide facilities by the end of 2022, as part of the group's commitment to achieving Net Zero greenhouse emissions by 2040.
