Urban Hospitals and Community Health
Large urban hospitals can generate more than two million tons of waste per year and consume half the energy that reaches 15 million euros. The problems arising from the handling and disposal of waste poses the need for centers to manage their medical waste autonomously and adapt their business practices for energy efficiency. The separation, collection and transportation of nuclear waste is a process established protocol legislation, but there is no specific national or European legislation for health waste. In most clinics and hospitals, treatment and management of hospital waste disposal involve all together: roles of reception, surgical materials, drugs … and then burn them in incinerators.
Environmental Protection Agency identified the U.S. waste disposal mechanism as the main source of emission of toxins, mercury, lead and other air pollutants that threaten human health and the environment environment. Other schools opt for waste disposed of as common,they are delivered to urban services for the collection and end up in open dumps, which puts them at risk of infection to people looking through garbage. The European Union is working on a directive on the emission of gases from the incineration of hazardous waste through the establishment of strict limits on the type of ovens and the efficiency of gas cleaning equipment. To meet these limits is necessary to install modern technology incinerators, equipped with a special oven and a gas scrubbing system of high efficiency. A technically sophisticated facility that requires a specialized operation and maintenance. The proper management of medical waste can reduce the risk to health and the environment but is significantly more expensive than common waste disposal. This is one reason why healthcare facilities should consider the need to minimize waste production and and reduce costs and optimize processes.
Energy conservation has become another priority of the government as they have to comply with energy efficiency legislation. To do this, play an important role new technologies, organic products and those with a longer life cycle emerging in the healthcare market. The LEDs are an example. A kind of light that consumes five times less and lasts 10 times longer than halogen, recycling is a good way to eliminate mercury emissions and reduce waste and toxic material disposal. The use of natural gas instead of diesel, the use of the condensation of air conditioning equipment or the purchase of energy efficient equipment are other environmental practices that can be carried out in hospitals. Purchasing decisions of hospitals play an important role, both directly and indirectly, on environmental health. These decisions influence the way they are produced food, the way they are packaged, consumed and discarded. It is what is called organic food, which also occurs in hospitals, which respects the environment, is economically viable and socially responsible. The environmental policy of hospitals, clinics and health centers requires significant changes and the introduction of measures to optimize its resources and produce cleaner energy. Minimize the amount and toxicity of waste, reducing electricity consumption and adopt policies for the use of products, materials and safer chemicals is the guarantee of a sector that not only monitors the health of individuals, but also the world’s in which they live. The mercury thermometer give way to electric.
