A general model to compute waste disposal costs for health care products

Abstract

Hospitals are large producers of solid waste. The cost of segregating and discarding products in these waste streams is high. Studies have shown there is a considerable potential to reduce these costs while simultaneously decreasing environmental impacts, employing a variety of methods and techniques. In this thesis a costing method is developed that assigns waste discarding costs proportionally to each product. By providing discarding cost information at this level of disaggregation it is possible to directly influence purchasing decisions, identify priority products for focused interventions and determine the ratio of a product’s purchasing cost to discarding cost. The approach demonstrated in this study is aimed to be a significant first step in connecting environmental concerns to hospital budgets, purchasing decisions and staff compliance with waste management strategies. The model is sufficiently general for other industries including health care providers, and in particular those which outsource waste removal from their property.