Can Medical Care Exist Without Plastic?

As healthcare is experiencing a technology crossover, the industry is poised to start addressing ecological sustainability. This is a burgeoning area that will require early adopters to lead the way.

The environmental non-profit Health Care Without Harm estimates that the world’s healthcare industry contributes just over four percent of the world’s emissions. Most of this stems from round-the-clock heating and cooling. That’s the same level of emissions produced by more than five coal-fired power plants in a year!!

The single-use nature of plastics used in clinical settings is the first area to tackle however,"Increasingly, say medical care providers, the unfettered use of plastic is conflicting with a doctor’s promise to do no harm, but in facilities awash in blood and pathogens, is avoiding plastic even possible?"