Hackathon to make hospitals more sustainable results in fourteen solutions

The transition to circular hospitals is complex and requires an interdisciplinary approach. The so-called Green Team of the Zorgambassade - a national think and do tank of healthcare professionals - therefore brought together various parties, including Medical Delta, in a hackathon to draft concrete advice to hospital administrators. The results are now publicly available in the report "Together to a Circular Hospital” (NL).

Dutch medical specialty care produced an estimated 76,000 tons of waste in 2018, including 22,000 tons of plastic and plastics. The Netherlands' goal is to be 100% circular by 2050 - enough reason to accelerate the transition to circular hospitals.

Fourteen solutions

With 60 (healthcare) professionals brainstorming on advice for a circular hospital in three themes. The 'greener policy' theme table suggested, among other things, that investing in people with knowledge of circularity and in financial resources should be a crucial part of any hospital policy. Knowledge about circularity could not only be increased, but also more coordinated because it is now often scattered among departments such as purchasing, facilities management and building management. To this end, in addition to appointing a sustainability coordinator, hospitals could also appoint (policy) staff with a sustainability portfolio and one director responsible for sustainability on the Board of Directors. In addition, it is crucial to have a financing structure that pays for sustainability. Sustainable measures are often a cost savings; this profit could flow back to the green house. 

From the 'less plastic' table, the 'r-ladder' of circularity was followed. This states that the most circular thing is 'refuse', or use as little as possible. Only lower down the ladder come 're-use' while 're-cycle' is even one of the lowest steps. A practical tip for preventing plastic use is to look closely at protocols with an interdisciplinary Green Team. This team can often identify unnecessary operations and come up with solutions. If recycling does take place, make sure you create so-called "monostreams" in the hospital, or a waste stream of a material that is easily recyclable. A good example of a monostream that hospitals can separate well is plastic packaging and beverage cartons (PD). These now often end up in residual waste, for which the hospital pays. Disposing of plastic packaging and PD will be free of charge from January 1, 2023 because producers will pay for it, and in that sense it is also financially attractive to do so. 

Reduce environmental impact of drug use

Making pharmaceuticals sustainable also received a lot of attention with its own table. Important, because a recent report by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows that medicines are the largest source of environmental impact in hospitals. Again, "refuse," in this case preventing the unnecessary dispensing of drugs, is an important pillar to sustainability. One concrete success story that was cited is the giving of pee bags to patients with short-term treatment with drugs that are very harmful to the environment. Such a measure demonstrably prevents the pollution of (drinking) water. But small-scale water purification can also be a realistic solution for hospitals.

These and other-solutions are summarized in the infographic below.

Report with practical sustainability tools for hospitals

The handy report "Together to a Circular Hospital" uses infographics and concrete recommendations to show how hospitals can become more sustainable. The report can be read here. More information can also be found on the site of the Zorgambassade.

If you want to make this a subject of discussion in your own (healthcare) organization, please contact the hackathon participants (contact details are listed at the back of the report) or contact Rosa van den Berg of Medical Delta (contact details can be found above this page).