Emerging sustainable materials in the health care industry: Possibilities and challenges of replacing single-use plastics

Single use plastics are an environmental catastrophe, and the health care industry remains as one of the biggest emitters globally. For this reason the purpose of this study was to look into the single use plastics in hospital use. To help minimize the harmful accumulation of plastic material, it was researched if the single-use plastics could be replaced with a recyclable non-woven material. Factors such as the attitudes in health care towards sustainability and the waste value systems and structures in place were considered. Method of research was to carry out a systematic study to discover secondary findings and to conduct an interview and four qualitative written questionnaires for the health care industry professionals. When analyzing the data method triangulation is used to compare the primary findings to the acquired secondary data. The single use materials in hospitals are an essential part of preventing contamination of infectious bacteria and virus. Non-woven materials were considered as an option to minimize harmful impacts of the waste accumulation and/or the harmful gases released when incinerating the hospital wastes. For the health care sector to be incentivized to change their methods, the sustainable values must be seen necessary. Key primary findings found the health care industry professionals to be receiving to the idea of replacing plastic material with more sustainable option. Secondary data found the theme of sustainability to be an emerging one in the health care industry. To be able to adopt the utilization of recyclable new materials more large scale research on the topic is required