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2016 Spring | Business & Sustainability, Education & Outreach, Sustainability

Diverting Waste in Healthcare

Student(s):

Jennifer Power

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Sean Schmidt

Partner(s):

  • UW Sustainability

Faculty advisor(s):

Elizabeth Umphress Professor Foster School of Business University of Washington

Hospitals are the second largest polluter in the US, creating 25 pounds of trash per patient. The purpose of this study was to examine current waste diversion efforts at the UW Medical Centers to improve waste diversion strategies. Barriers such as lack of education, employee engagement and complex waste streams hinder waste diversion. Earlier access to sustainability curriculum and greater outreach efforts in hospitals will help to understand the importance of waste diversion. If gaps in waste diversion programs can be eradicated, the second largest polluter in the US can send patients into a healthy, sustainable planet.