IHI BMJ Poster Showcase: Transforming Soft Plastic Recycling Practises at one Canadian Hospital
Get inspired by Ms Claire Moura’s ‘From Garbage to Green’ presentation from the IHI BMJ International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2023.
Ms Claire Moura, an Anaesthesia Residen at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada led the project, ‘From Garbage to Green: A Soft Plastic Recycling Initiative in one Canadian Anaesthesia Department.’ This initiative was among the winning posters at the IHI BMJ International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2023.
Transforming Soft Plastic Recycling Practises at the Royal Columbian Hospital
Anaesthesia activities contribute to approximately 25 percent of all operating room waste, making them a significant factor in healthcare environmental impact. Addressing this source of waste is critical for reducing the healthcare sector’s contribution to climate change.
One leading source of waste in the Anaesthesia department is soft plastics waste. The ‘Garbage to Green’ project sought to develop a soft plastic recycling program with The Department of Anaesthesia at the Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH). A key challenge was that were no existing soft plastics recycling collection pathway at the hospital, requiring a shift in waste practises department wide.
“For our project, we aimed to develop a soft plastics recycling program in the RCH operating rooms over 9 months, with a goal of collecting 2kg of soft plastics waste weekly.” said Ms Moura.
Beginning from small steps, Ms Moura and her team piloted the use of a common collection bin in one operating room. They identified errors and common mistakes in recycling, making adjustments as needed to ensure compliance.
Over the course of nine months, the project was successfully scaled across all operating rooms at the hospital, with approximately 1.5kg of soft plastics recycling collected daily.
Visual aids were a key component to ensuring soft plastics were recycled correctly across the department. The team also prioritised open communication, ensuring that there were opportunities for feedback and questions.
“The most successful part of the project was the realisation that we weren’t the only ones who cared about sustainability in our operating rooms,”
“We had nursing and administrative colleagues approach us asking how they could also collect and divert their soft plastics waste from the waste bin. We had other hospitals in the Vancouver area ask if we could help them do the same.”
The success of the 'Garbage to Green' project at the RCH is evident in the sustainability of its recycling program. As Ms Moura shared, the impact of the initiative has continued well beyond its initial implementation.
“Since the conference we have completed a follow up data collection at the six-month mark to ensure maintenance of change, and people are still recycling and doing it properly without mistakes,
The project has also galvanised the hospital community, and we are currently working with waste management and the facility to hopefully be able to expand soft plastics recycling outside of the OR to other parts of the hospital.”
When sharing her takeaway from this project, Ms Moura remarks, “Quality Improvement has the ability to not only improve care for patients, but can unite your team towards other common goals, such as making our delivery of world class healthcare just a little bit more sustainable.”
Do you have a quality improvement initiative you want to share on an international stage? Poster submissions for the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare (IHI BMJ) 2024 in Brisbane, Australia are now open.
Call for Posters submissions open until 03 July 2024
Submitting an abstract gives you the opportunity to highlight your work, network, and raise your profile at this prestigious event.
As a Strategic Partner for this inspiring event, we look forward to fostering collaboration, sharing insights, and advancing healthcare excellence alongside esteemed professionals from around the globe.
Submit your poster abstract before the 03 July deadline.
