Ongoing research into these non-toxic alternatives will make it easier for hospitals to move away from PVC plastic. If more hospitals demand PVC alternatives, health care supply companies will respond. The health care industry in the United States generates a huge amount of solid waste. In fact, hospitals alone produce approximately 2 million tons of waste per year, a figure that has more than doubled since 1955. The public pays for this waste through the loss of landfill space and pollution associated with production and disposal of products that become trash.
Hospitals pay in the form of ever higher disposal costs.
The first step in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators is to conduct a waste audit to find out where the trash is being created and what types come from different areas. The second step is to reduce the amount of waste generated by developing packaging reduction programs with vendors and replacing disposable products with reusables. The third step is to design a recycling program to manage the remaining waste in an environmentally-responsible way. The Health Care Without Harm coalition consists of a broad array of organizations concerned about the impacts of the health care industry on the environment and human health. The coalition includes major public health groups, organizations representing health care professionals, hospitals, community and environmental organizations.