SmartSheffield #18 - Paul Hatton: "Single use plastics and packaging in healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities"

Paul Hatton is a Professor of Biomaterials Science at the Sheffield School of Dentistry, and has been engaged with a project within Sheffield University's Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, and funded by the EPSRC, which looked at medical waste produced in a number of different medical contexts, including dentistry, vascular surgery and an orthopaedic unit. He and his colleagues are particularly interested in developing sustainable dentistry, and this project was connected to this broader mission.

For more information, please visit the the Redefining Single Use Plastics research project at the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.

These slides were presented at SmartSheffield#18 on May 17th 2021 - please see the Event Website for a full video of the talk.

Transcript

1. Single use plastics and packaging in healthcare: Challenges & opportunities Paul Hatton Professor Biomaterials Science
2. Background • Healthcare generates approximately 600,000 tonnes of waste per annum (Coote, 2002), including over 133,000 tonnes of plastic (Equivalent of 359,000 of CO2 e). • Less than 10% of NHS waste is recycled (Hutchins & White, 2009), 0% packaging.
3. Background • Why medical and dental waste? o The percentage of plastics in total waste is relatively high (>20%) o 85% of waste is non-hazardous (WHO 2018) o Relatively few polymers make up bulk of waste (polyethylene, polypropylene, methacrylates, polydimethylsiloxanes or PDMS, PTFE, PVC, and acrylonitrile butadiene rubber).
4. Multi-disciplinary challenges • Technical. • Regulatory. • Risks of cross-infection. • Hospital/Practice management & policies. • Staff culture and behaviours. • Public attitudes. Potentially a complex challenge with overlapping elements and interactions.
5. Safe and Sustainable Packaging in Healthcare (Proposal NE/V010670/1) Complexity of the Problem
6. Healthcare environments • Bounded site with strict controls. • Highly trained and motivated staff with professional practices. • Extensive governance (quality and safety). “Understanding this environment and practices is crucial to explore the possibilities, scope, barriers and motivation/resources for change” Despite complexity, several positive aspects:
7. Proof of Concept Study • Clinical & hospital service evaluation o Quantification of plastic waste (linked to procedures) o Identification of waste plastics (related to type and polymer chemistry). • Drivers of selection, use and disposal of: o Packaging o Single-use plastics (contaminated v non- contaminated) • Waste management strategies • Sustainable healthcare in educating the profession
8. Acknowledgements • PDRAs: o Harriet Baird o Peter Fuzesi • Academic/Clinical Staff including: o Tom Webb o Alex Rothman o Seb Spain o Sarah Baker o Nicolas Martin o James Field o Steve Mulligan o Jonathan Hoare
9. grantham.sheffield.ac.uk @granthamcsf Current Medical Waste Streams Less waste, more health (2017)