Oregon DEQ: Land Quality - Solid Waste - Commercial Waste Reduction Clearinghouse - Success Stories

Health Care

Also see: Waste Reduction Strategies for Health Care

Business: Bend Memorial Clinic (Bend)

Number of Employees: 375

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Identified examples of unnecessary packaging of medical products and sent letters to vendors requesting more resource efficient packaging.

A clinic-wide paper waste prevention program reduced per-employee use of paper by 12% in one year. Employees were asked to make double-sided copies, reuse paper that had already been used on one side, and reprogram printers and fax machines to eliminate printing of unneeded fax transmission reports and blank pages between print jobs. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,550/year (paper costs only; printing and labor savings not included). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 65 cases (3,250 pounds) of paper/year.

Changed from printing timesheets on large greenbar paper to a smaller (8½ x 11") paper. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 300 pounds of paper/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Bergen Brunswig Medical (Tigard)

Number of Employees: 40

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Bergen Brunswig Medical’s Tigard office and warehouse provides medical and surgical supplies to more than 1,000 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and medical offices.

Reuses vendor supply boxes to ship orders to customers. Empty supply boxes are stored near the product re-packing area for convenient reuse. This has reduced the purchase of new shipping boxes by two-thirds. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $22,500/year, plus reduced staff time for assembling new boxes and recycling. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 30,000 pounds of paper boxes/year.

Eliminated the purchase of polystyrene packing "peanuts" and paper dunnage for packing. Shipping boxes are packed with shredded paper from the accounting office and newspaper supplied by employees. Any "peanuts" received are reused. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $5,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 12,000 pounds of paper/year, plus "peanuts."

Two-thirds of all pallets received are reused for large-volume orders. Other pallets are sold to a company that repairs and resells them. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $36,700/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 120+ tons/year.

Recycles office paper and purchases green-bar computer paper made with recycled content.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Central Oregon Independent Health Services (Bend)

Number of Employees: 63

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Switched to double-sided copying for the Participating Provider Directory. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $12,100/year (including postage). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 4,500 pounds/year of paper.

An employee newsletter is now distributed to most employees via the company intranet, rather than in hard copy format. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $90/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 23 pounds/year of paper.

Reminders at staff meetings, an e-mail message and wall signs were used to remind employees about the importance of turning off lights, monitors, copiers, and printers when not in use, especially at the end of the day. Also, lamps were removed above work stations as requested by employees. This resulted in a 1% decrease in electricity use despite a 15% increase in employment.

Reduced hot water temperature from 130^o to 120^o Fahrenheit. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $85/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 1,700 kWh/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Columbia Gorge Veterinary Clinic (Hood River)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Installed a ventilation system that reduces the need for air conditioning by using fresh outside air during morning and evening hours. This reduced electricity use by 25-30% and had a two-year payback.

Upgraded lighting and lighting controls and insulated the hot water heater, reducing electricity use another 15-20%. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $225/year.

Installed faucet aerators and a toilet tank displacement to reduce water use.

Reconfigured margins and simplified a medical form to fit onto one page of paper.

Reuses large envelopes and file folders.

Case Study

Call Hood River Green Smart, 541-386-2000.

Business: Legacy Health Systems (Portland)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Created an organizational policy to eliminate mercury - the first hospital in Oregon to do so and among the first 200 hospitals in the US.

Replaced disposable foam mattresses with reusables. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $81,527/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 16,350 pounds/year.

Switched from buying juice in 32 oz. glass container to 60 oz. plastic container (containers are recycled; larger containers use less material). FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $125/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,500 pounds/year.

Eliminated rarely-used items from custom packs of surgical supplies. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $30,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 11,000 pounds/year.

Consolidated duplicative admitting kits for maternity patients. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $3,500/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,700 pounds/year.

Switched from disposable gowns and drapes to reusable ones. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $100,000/year. (For one surgery unit only, Legacy is trying to do this organization-wide).

Reduces photocopying by keeping originals in shared files. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $128,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,100 pounds/year.

Customized the distribution of reports and newsletters; periodically checks distribution lists and only sends reports and newsletters to departments and individuals who request them. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $10,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 4,100 pounds/year.

Consolidated seven different patient forms into a single flow sheet. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $158/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 300 pounds/year.

Eliminated unused third page of three-part carbonless form. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $199/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 60 pounds/year.

In 1999, recycled cardboard, 1.1 million pounds of office paper, 72,000 pounds of glass bottles, 54,000 pounds of metal, and 92,000 pounds of several resins of plastics. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $83,000/year.

Recycled 1 ton of lead-acid and NiCd batteries in 1999.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Mark Kidd, Recycling Specialist for Legacy Health reports that a total of $297,000 was saved through waste reduction and recycling in 1999.

Business: Southside Physical Therapy (Bend)

Number of Employees: <10

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Reformatted newsletter so that it can be mailed without an envelope.

Purchased microwavable hot packs and disconnect hydroculator (a tank of hot water that kept hot packs warm).

Keep lights off in rooms when not in use.

Switched to lower wattage light bulb.

Retrofitted exist sign with high-efficiency LED.

Limit washing to full loads only.

Installed 24-hour 7-day programmable thermostat.

FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $87/year (energy bills only).

Case Study

None

Business: Willamette Falls Immediate Care (Clackamas)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Changed a 4-page NCR (carbonless) patient chart form to a 2-page form. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 24,000 sheets of paper per year.

Case Study

None