O1055: Operating Room Waste: Do Attitudes Towards Sustainability and Procedural Characteristics Affect Waste Generation?

Background: Operating rooms (ORs) provide opportunities for health systems to improve their environmental sustainability, as ORs can contribute up to 30% of a hospital’s waste. While systems-based approaches are critical in “greening” the OR, individual practices and perspectives may also aid transition to a culture of sustainability. We sought to investigate the relationship of the knowledge and values of OR personnel related to climate change to the amount of waste generated in the OR for different pediatric operations

Methods: This mixed-methods study was conducted at a children’s hospital OR in two parts: a waste audit of inguinal hernia repairs and administration of a survey to operating room personnel to assess knowledge, beliefs, and values related to climate change and the environment. Aims were to 1) quantify the amount of solid and gaseous waste generated, 2) compare waste generation by different procedural factors, and 3) assess for association between individual beliefs about sustainability and sustainable behaviors in the operating room.

Results: Twenty out of 20 (100%) of the inguinal hernia repairs that took place during the two-week study were included. The median weight generated was 6.23 kg (range 5.64-6.93) in laparoscopic procedures and 5.71 kg (range 5.00-6.08) in open procedures. Use of regional anesthesia led to more waste (p-value=0.011). Procedures with patients under 1 year of age also generated more waste than procedures with patients aged 1-6 (p-value= 0.001). Thirty-seven OR personnel responded to the survey (48%). Overall, the Likert-scale results of survey participants (n=37) skewed towards pro-environmental responses on climate change knowledge, self-efficacy, identity and values, and the role of health professionals on combating climate change. In procedures with a greater than 50% survey response rate (n=8), the belief that modern science will solve environmental problems had a negative linear relationship with the amount of waste generated (r=-0.875, p-value < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a wide range of waste quantity produced in a common OR procedure. While preliminary with a limited sample size, our study suggests that individual choices can impact waste generated in the OR and are critical in creating meaningful, sustainable change.