Skip to main content

Table 2 Financial and environmental benefits of green initiatives

From: Sustainability in interventional radiology: are we doing enough to save the environment?

Reference

Topic

Financial and environmental benefits

Peters et al. 2021

Flexible on-call site for radiology trainees

Reduce commuting distance and resultant reduction in CO2 emissions by 4.3 tonnes of CO2

McLeod 2021

Recycling medical plastics

Disposing medical plastics as solid waste costs USD 121 per ton compared to USD 68 per ton recycling same material

 

Reducing air exchanges when operating rooms are not in use

Saved USD 2 million a year

 

Installing HVAC occupancy sensors in 2 operating rooms

Reduced 25,000 kW per hour energy use and saved USD 4,000 dollars per year

Hainc et al. 2020

Changing the wait period of reporting stations stand-by from four hour to one hour, and then turning the reporting stations off completely

Estimated annual saving of 23, 692 kWh, equivalent of saving 45% of initial power consumption

Brassil and Torreggiani 2019

13.5% of general waste consisted of recyclable materials and 16.5% of clinical waste comprised of packaging and paper that could be diverted to recycling stream

391 tonnes of materials could have been recycled, saving hospital waste management costs of up to €33,000 (USD 32,526)

Demmert et al. 2019

Incentives (USD 5 coffee gift cards) were given to staff who used soon-to-expire equipment

USD 135,859.65 worth of equipment was successfully used prior to expiry

Azouz et al. 2019

Implement recycling educational program

Saved 10.3% in sharps waste disposal cost, cost decreased from USD 665.28 to USD 596.66

Babu et al. 2019

Recycling blue wrap over 39 days

Saved 31.2 cubic feet of landfill space

  

Extrapolated to yield USD 5,000 in revenue each year and save USD 174,240 from cost avoidance related to decreased disposal and transport costs

  

Estimated to save 18,837.5 gallons of oil, equivalent to 158,786 kWH of energy across the whole hospital

Hubbard et al. 2017

Disposing of anaesthesia-related waste in standard waste bins prior to patient entry into operating room

Annual reduction of 13,800 kg of regulated medical waste and a cost savings of USD 2,200

Perrego 2017

Mandatory online learning module for all perioperative staff members

41% reduction in total mass of regulated waste and 77% reduction in total mass of non-regulated items. This translated to an estimated USD 7,200 reduction in regulated waste cost per annum

Wyssusek et al. 2016

Segregating clinical waste from general waste

Approximately 60% reduction of waste disposal costs for operating room waste and saving of USD 5,790 per month

 

Further implementation of recycling

Increased overall cost reduction of approximately 80%, which was approximately USD 7,800 in savings per month

Weiss et al. 2016

Installing water saving retrofits throughout OT

Saved USD 13,750 per year in water usage costs

Albert and Rothkopf 2015

Initiating single-stream recycling

Three campuses saved USD 3,487 per month, extrapolating to a saving of USD 41,844 per year

Wormer et al. 2013

Powering down all anaesthesia and OT lights and equipment not in use

Saved USD 33,000 and reduced 234.3 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year

 

Reusing batteries

Saved USD 9,238 and 500 pounds of alkaline waste was diverted from landfills

 

Swapping from scrub soap to alcohol-based waterless scrub solutions

Estimated 2.7 million litres of water saved

Southorn et al. 2013

Recycling and segregating waste generated from joint replacement procedures appropriately

Estimated 75% carbon footprint reduction via reduction of incineration of misclassified clinical waste nationwide in UK

  

Estimated £420,000 (USD 474,967) cost saving per year

Prasanna et al. 2011

Shutting down workstations and monitors after an 8-h workday in the radiology department

Saved 83,866.6 kWh of electric consumption and USD 9,225.33 annually. Equivalent of removing 11.6 cars off the road, saving 14.9 barrels of oil or 39 tonnes of coal

Saver 2011

Changing to reusable sharp containers

Annual saving of USD 70,000

Conrardy et al. 2010

Recycling surgical towels, gowns, table covers, stainless steel basins and Mayo stand covers

Reduced waste generation by 45,000 lb and save USD 12,600 from regulated medical waste disposal cost in a hospital that conducted 10,000 surgical procedures a year

 

Switching from disposable to reusable surgical gowns

Cut down USD 38,000 and reduced 63,000 kg of waste

Saver 2009

Refitting the OR with LED lights and low-mercury lamps

Saved approximately 340,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually, which is equivalent to saving USD 40,000 per year

 

Substituting conventional electricity with clean and sustainable sources of energy via getting Green Tag renewable energy certificate

Reduced carbon emission by 265,000 lb per month

McGain et al. 2008

Recycling plastics from the operating room

Saved AUD 20 (USD 13) per week from recycling 200 kg of plastics