Students innovate to reduce OR plastic waste

Editor's Note

A hospital in Canada could see OR PVC waste reduced by as much as half this year thanks to a perioperative waste reduction project innovated by three fourth-year BSN students from the College of the Rockies. East Kootenay News Online Weekly reported the news January 9.

According to the article, the students—Aman Sidhu, Brooklyn Rauser, and Kelsie Lussier— collaborated with AJ Brekke, Perioperative Units Manager at East Kootenay Regional Hospital (EKRH), and the hospital’s Environmental Sustainability Committee. Dubbed Eco-Scalpel, the initiative focuses on recycling PVC plastics such as IV bags, oxygen masks, and tubing, materials commonly discarded in ORs.

As detailed in the article, the students introduced custom collection bins for PVC plastics, which will be processed at a specialized facility and repurposed into materials like road construction components and composite siding. Initial efforts have led to cross-departmental collaboration and enthusiastic support from nurses at EKRH, the first facility to adopt the initiative. The hope is that other hospitals will follow.