Follow on Google News News By Tag Industry News News By Place Country(s) Industry News
Follow on Google News | Study Confirms Daniels Sharpsmart Helps Hospitals Reduce Carbon FootprintNorthwestern Memorial Hospital Achieves 84 Percent Reduction In Sharps Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By: Dan Dunlop “A top priority for hospitals is finding ways they can practice green healthcare,” Hospitals currently account for 3 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are striving to increase their sustainability and to decrease their global warming potential (GWP). Of their emissions, 54 percent are derived from supply chain goods and services. By targeting supply chain points and replacing disposable sharp containers (DSC) with Sharpsmart RSC, Daniels Sharpsmart explored how NMH could reduce their GWP. The authors estimated that U.S. hospitals dispose of their needles, scalpels, etc., into 35 million disposable (DSC) or reusable (RSC) sharps containers, which generate GHG in their manufacture, use and disposal. By using reusable sharps containers, the study revealed that NMH was able to reduce its annual GWP by 127 MTCO2eq (84 percent) as well as diverting 31 tons of plastic and 5 tons of cardboard from being deposited in landfills. In addition, by using RSC there was a reduction in the number of containers manufactured from 34,396 DSC annually to only 1,844 RSC in year one only. The study also stated that NMH costs (for containers and disposal) were reduced by 19.2 percent by using Sharpsmarts (which in previous studies were associated with significant reductions in sharps injuries). The percentage reduction in NMH’s sharps management GWP using Sharpsmarts exceeds the 28 percent target required of United States federal hospitals by 2020 and the 2050 target of eighty percent required by hospitals in the United Kingdom. The authors currently estimate that the total GWP associated with sharps containment and disposal in the United States is approximately 100,000 MTCO2eq per annum. If reusable sharps containers were used in all of the hospitals in the United States, approximately 64,000 MTCO2eq could be saved. About Daniels Sharpsmart Daniels Sharpsmart Inc. is the world’s largest provider of reusable systems for sharps disposal and the second largest company in the medical waste disposal industry in the United States. The Sharpsmart system was launched in 1999 and is the most widely researched sharps containment system in the world, the only system to have peer-reviewed confirmation of sharps injury reduction and the only system in which all container models meet the tests required by the European Agreement (AFG) on Transport of Dangerous Goods. The company’s innovative Sharpsmart system is used in health care facilities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For more information, please visit http://danielsinternational.com/ End
Account Email Address Account Phone Number Disclaimer Report Abuse
|
|