Single-use device (SUD) reprocessing is one supply-chain initiative that allows healthcare facilities to care for the environment while reducing costs, according to an article on the FacilityCare website.
Hospitals reprocess SUDs to reduce their environmental footprint. The Sustainability Roadmap for Hospitals notes that hospitals produce an average of 25 pounds of waste per patient, per day. This is more than five times the amount of waste the average person in the U.S. generated per day in 2012, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the article.
When hospitals discard items that can be reprocessed, they create unnecessary landfill waste.
Resterilizing and repackaging expired and unused devices also allows hospitals to reduce the costs of disposing of these unused devices or purchasing new ones.
With these cost savings, the article said, hospitals can put more resources toward other care initiatives.
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