Why Reusable isn’t Always Sustainable
When anyone starts to speak about how we as an industry can start to become more sustainable, two subjects will always come up: the use of renewable energy and how we can reduce medical waste in the nation’s hospitals. If you’re looking for an answer to the first issue you might want to read this blog, but today we’ve teamed up with industry leaders Vernacare to discuss how the NHS could reduce their waste by prioritising single-use items.
Yes, you heard that right.
Who are Vernacare?
Pioneers in infection prevention solutions for healthcare environments, Vernacare’s sustainability journey dates back to 1961, when the first environmentally friendly urine bottles and bedpans were developed. The business has evolved over the years and Vernacare deliver quality products for Infection Prevention, Clinical Waste Management and Surgical Solutions, developed to help improve the lives of patients, residents, and healthcare professionals working across the globe. From their UK-based manufacturing facilities, they supply over 60 countries with sustainable solutions that aim to prevent infection and save lives.
The Myth Around Reusable Products
When single-use products are mentioned, the conversation is usually centred around the negative impact single-use items have on the environment. But it may surprise you to know that the grass isn’t necessarily greener in the reusable garden.
While it is undeniable that by increasing society’s use of reusable items we could reduce our overall consumption, as well as the level of inevitable plastic waste littered into our environment, but their sustainability credentials are contingent on how often people reuse them. For example, a reusable metal straw must be reused over 150 times to equate cost-per-use emissions of a single-use plastic straw. Which, due to human nature, is rarely achieved in practice.
Healthcare’s Relationship with Single-Use
Reusable products high use requirement is due to them creating a higher carbon footprint during the manufacturing process compared to single-use items, as they are built to be used long-term. Moreover, reusable items need to be reprocessed (cleaned and resterilised in many cases) over the course of their lifetime to make them usable. Especially products that come into contact with bodily fluids.
These factors become especially prevalent when it comes to choosing between single-use and reusable products in healthcare environments. After all, medical professionals need to not only guarantee that items are sterile to prevent infection but also instantly available in case of an emergency. Meaning that items that need consistent washing, such as reusable bedpans and instruments, are often opted against in the day-to-day running of a ward.
“Nurses and other healthcare professionals have a hard enough job as it is without the added pressure of making sure their instruments have been cleaned properly. That’s why wards will often opt for single-use items as they can consistently guarantee that they are safe for patient use.”
Clive Spooner, Vernacare Training Manager
But where does this leave us in terms of the NHS’s sustainability? Especially when the NHS produces over 156,000 tonnes of clinical waste per year.
Well, if healthcare professionals prefer to use single-use products, then we’re going to have to make those single-use products as sustainable as possible. Thankfully there is already an industry leader pioneering techniques to achieve this. Enter… Vernacare.
Spotlight: Vernacare Products
Over the course of 75 years, Vernacare has proved that providing single-use sustainable products while maintaining green business practices is not only possible but also manageable. From their manufacturing process to their transport, and from their R&D techniques to their finished products, sustainability is a priority in everything they do.
Take for example their Disposable Medical Pulp Containers. As the world’s largest manufacturer of medical grade pulp products, they provide healthcare facilities with environmentally friendly and cost-effective wash bowls, bedpan liners, urinal bottles, and CS receivers, that prevent infection while taking care of the environment.
By using 100% recycled cellulose fibres, these products ensure sterile single-use options for healthcare professionals without the environmental impact. Their sustainable macerator system means that those working on the ward have a dedicated place to dispose of the used products with the knowledge that they will be disposed of in a safe way.
But Vernacare’s commitment to providing healthcare professionals with products that don’t sacrifice sustainability for convenience doesn't stop with their paper and pulp solutions. They also provide patented Sharpsafe containers made from 100% recycled materials that allow customers to further their sustainability goals while maintaining a safe environment. Sharpsafe containers are essential to the everyday running of NHS hospital wards and GP practices alike, and with traditional options carrying high levels of virgin plastic and large carbon footprints, they are usually seen as a necessary evil within medical spaces. But Venacare’s innovative manufacturing techniques enable their customers to benefit from their Sharpsafe containers 80% lower carbon footprint and reduction in virgin plastic use.
Supporting healthcare facilities on their road to net zero targets and proving that single-use can be green.
The Bigger Sustainable Picture
Here are Sustainability Partnerships we know the NHS’s sustainability journey is multifaceted and includes complex systems which can’t be boiled down to a one product solution. This is especially important in the debate surrounding single-use vs reusable healthcare equipment as we learn more about the carbon intensive manufacturing process of reusable items that can outweigh their good-natured use. But Vernacare shows how by keeping sustainability at the forefront of their mindset and ingrained into their manufacturing processes they can deliver sustainable solutions that prioritise ease of use.
To know more about how single-use options could be the future of sustainable healthcare, visit the Vernacare website to see their range of eco-friendly products.