Earth Day Focuses on Eliminating Single-Use Plastics

Healthcare is one of the industries that contributes the most to total waste and accumulation of single-use plastics in landfills. At Innovative Health, we believe that our role in the medical technology industry is more than to save hospitals money; it is to create a more sustainable relationship between healthcare and the environment. Our partner hospitals participate in efforts to reduce plastic pollution and battle the single-use mindset of manufacturers and users through our single-use device reprocessing program. Through single-use device reprocessing, we collect used single-use devices and clean, test, inspect and sterilize these so they can be used a second or sometimes a third time before they end up in the landfills.

Our partner hospitals participate in efforts to reduce plastic pollution and battle the single-use mindset  of manufacturers and users through out single-use device reprocessing program.

While our program is successful, there is a long way to go. In some EP Labs in the United States, we collect 200+ devices every month; devices that are not going into landfills. This is an achievement that is possible because clinicians and staff in EP Labs across the country understand how reprocessing can reduce environmental harm. Let us remember to NOT throw single-use catheters in the garbage after a case, but instead keep them for reprocessing and reuse.

As we celebrate Earth Day this Sunday, April 22, let us make a commitment to reduce waste and single-use plastics, and let us remember the important, positive impact of the little things we do every day, when we place used devices in plastic containers instead of throwing them away.