Healthy Hospitals: Environmental Improvements through Environmental Accounting

U.S. hospitals produce 2 million tons of solid waste each year, 85% of which is consumer waste, including food, paper, and plastic; the remaining 15% is toxic waste. How can hospitals and other health care facilities bring about waste minimization and toxic use reduction? The answer, according to this U.S. EPA report, is environmental accounting. By considering the monetary and non-monetary environmental costs, the life cycle analysis, and the costs accrued throughout the useful life of a product, hospitals can determine where to reduce consumption in order to minimize waste. Environmental accounting provides hospitals with a tangible way to assess both the costs and the environmental impact of operations, in order to inform plans to reduce environmental impact. This report describes environmental-accounting purchasing practices, waste minimization methods, and the first steps in hospital waste reduction. A collection of case studies demonstrates environmental accounting in action. A thorough and thoughtful consideration of the hospital-waste issue, this report is not for the faint of heart. It’s 108 pages of dense discussion on what the authors believe is the best method to help hospitals cut down on the enormous amount of waste produced in this industry. The report can be ordered for $20 from the Tellus Institute Web site.