Tools and resources

Pharmaceutical waste background

• Waste
• Pharmaceutical Waste
• Guide

Increased awareness around the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has resulted in closer scrutiny and increased regulatory oversight of pharmaceutical waste.  Evidence of feminization of fish raised a red flag and resulted in more studies, closer scrutiny, and concern for human health and the environment.  The U.S. Geological Survey has done extensive work to characterize the kinds…

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Medical waste treatment and disposal

• Waste
• Medical Waste

The main task of a regulated treatment system is to render the waste noninfectious. The technical means to disinfect medical waste has existed for a long time. Incineration was once the method of choice for dealing with medical waste, and many hospitals burned their waste on site. But it gradually became clear that, while protecting the public from infection, hospitals using onsite incinerators…

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Typical categories of medical waste

• Waste
• Medical Waste

The typical categories of medical waste and details regarding state-regulated treatment.   

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Circles of Excellence Honorees

• Awards

The Circle of Excellence Awards celebrate hospitals who have not only earned an award for all-around sustainability achievement, but who have also been identified as the top scoring programs for each category of sustainability. LEADERSHIP CIRCLE It all starts with leadership. The Leadership Circle represents the high-performing hospitals that have a strong infrastructure supporting a long term…

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Corporate environmental responsibility questions for service contracts

• Sustainable procurement
• Tool

Hospitals in the Practice Greenhealth network are committed to contracting with companies who are committed to environmental stewardship. Corporate environmental responsibility is generally defined as the duty to cover the environmental implications of the company’s operations, products and facilities, eliminate waste and emissions, maximize the efficiency and productivity of its resources, and…

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Less waste poster template

• Climate and Health
• Less Waste
• Poster

Highlight the less waste champions within your organization using this "It starts with us" poster template. Simply download this Microsoft Word document, customize with your organization's logo and employees' information, and save to a PDF to print.  

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Electronics Waste Recycling - sample RFP

• Waste
• Recycling
• Waste Management
• Tool

Cascade Asset Management is a leading IT asset retirement service firm that assists enterprises and institutions with the secure and environmentally sound disposition of their technology assets.  From time to time, they are asked by businesses and institutions for guidance on how they can put together a formal asset retirement and electronics recycling program that meets their needs and goals. …

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Webinar: Effectively managing waste anesthesia gas

• Greening the Operating Room
• Anesthetic Gas
• Webinar

The energy and equipment needed to safely evacuate Waste Anesthesia Gas (WAG) in the Operating Room (OR) may be operating during unoccupied periods, wasting energy and wearing out equipment.  Concurrently, minimizing the atmospheric exhaust of WAG is considered a key strategy in reducing a health facility’s carbon footprint.  The global warming potential over 100 years (GWP100) of commonly used…

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Webinar: Clinical engagement and emerging best practices in the OR

• Greening the Operating Room
• Anesthetic Gas
• Waste Segregation
• Clinician engagement
• Webinar

In the operating room, the stakes are high and moments count. Great measures are taken to prevent bad outcomes. At the same time, the most recent and conservative Practice Greenhealth (PGH) estimate places annual hospital waste at 5.9 million tons per year in the United States alone. Perioperative services is the single largest clinical generator of trash in all of health care, responsible for…

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Greening the OR: Savings, trends, opportunities

• Greening the Operating Room
• Webinar

While crucial to patient care, the surgical department for many health care facilities can be a huge source of energy consumption, waste generation, and supply expenses, not to mention greenhouse gas emissions. During this call, we’ll examine the most recent Practice Greenhealth benchmark data and highlight national trends. We’ll share success stories from leading hospitals and lessons to bring…

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