PRODUCTS & SERVICES
and suppliers in product stewardship – sustainable materials, source reduction, packaging, shipping and disposal. That is a very important, but complex, step in the journey toward true sustainability.”
Vizient’s Indiveri agrees that full-on environmental sustain- ability isn’t possible.
“In many instances, a safe, sustainable alternative product option has not yet been created,” she indicated. “Without clearly defined industry standards and oversight, sustainability is more of a journey than an end goal. The Vizient approach toward adding safer products to our portfolio that help members on this journey is aggressive but realistic.
“Some organizations evaluate and deem products as environ- mentally sustainable by looking for just one environmentally preferred characteristic, such as if the product is recyclable. Vizient evaluates every product using 23 standardized, en- vironmentally preferred product attributes that include a list of 11 chemicals of concern as well as attributes that minimize waste in various different ways. The attributes we apply take into account products that have a reduced impact on human health and the environment,” she added. Much depends on the healthcare organization’s goals, size and overall commitment, according to Medline’s Olivier.
“Implementing best practices
can be a huge culture change for organizations, so I recommend thinking about it in stages,” she advised. “Before even starting to create a plan though, think about your biggest areas of concern. This shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing ap- proach. Rather, it is an opportunity to start where you think you can have the biggest enviromental im- pact at your organization.” NewGen Surgical’s Chase con-
curs.
“In healthcare there is plenty of room to go as environmentally sustainable as you can with various products and services,” he noted.
Exam Glove Recycling box, part of Medline’s green smart program
“There are other materials or processes that can be adopted without impact on patient care and safety. Part of our Smart Sustainable Design approach is to go as green as possible with products that deliver equal or better clinical performance. However, in healthcare, in order to mitigate infections and other risks, or for materials required for procedures, going completely environmentally sustainable, would be a challenge today. But big impacts can be had with simple product conversions and should be considered sooner than later.”
What makes total environmental sustainability unrealistic is the availability of options in the marketplace, according to GX’s Starr.
“Unfortunately, in today’s market, there aren’t sufficient alternative products available to convert all of the items that are not ‘green’ to better alternatives,” she said. “The challenges to moving the market come down to product demand. If you listen to the conversations around sustainability in supply chain, it would appear there is the desire to use green products. However, in practice, demand is low.
Starr attributes the complications to three mitigating factors.
• Converting to more sustainable products can often be in con- flict with other supply chain strategies including compliance to national groups, she observed.
• Identifying sustainable products is complicated, and most organizations don’t have expertise in all supply categories to first identify what should be included/excluded from specific products, and then apply that “standard” to each SKU, which GX actually does, she noted.
• Identifying more sustainable products that also function at an acceptable level for the use in which they are intended can take time and effort. This work is often pushed to a lower priority and often isn’t tackled, she said.
Realistically, “there will always be some level of waste, due
to advancements in technology, along with unforeseen circum- stances that lead to shifts in the normal course of business,” said WestCMR’s Blanchard.
But that shouldn’t encourage complacency and discourage healthcare organizations from doing nothing, particularly in the area of excess products, according to WestCMR’s Greene. “Hospitals and surgery centers need outlets for distressed inventory from conversions, contract changes and surgeon preference changes,” she noted. “However, facilities should at least attempt to put some level of effort into sustainability.” For more than a dozen years, Barco Uniforms has incorporated environmental sustainability into its product manufacturing process, according to Peggy Schulz, Vice President, Corporate Marketing. “It’s impossible to avoid the realities of apparel manufacturing and how it impacts the environment,” she said. “That is why Barco has been integrating recycled plastic bottles into its scrubs since 2006. Becoming more sustainable is a key goal for Barco. However, it’s somewhat dependent on and driven by the healthcare consumer’s mindset, demand and willingness to spend a little more for sustainable products, and in our case, choice to purchase sustainable scrubs. As we watch the overall apparel industry purchasing behavior, we are seeing a shift in that direction especially with the Gen Z target consumer.” In fact, Barco Uniforms projects it has prevented 16.8 million plastic bottles from polluting the environment since incor- porating plastic bottles into the fabric of the Barco One and Skechers by Barco scrub collections in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Each Barco One garment incorporates five recycled plastic bottles in its fabric and the brand has recycled 7.5 million bottles, while each Skechers garment is made from seven recycled plastic bottles, resulting in 9.3 million recycled bottles to date, the company stated.
Peggy Schulz Barco Uniforms Show me a number
If complete environmental sustainability is unrealistic if not un- reachable, then what might be the “ideal” percentage or ratio of
Page 44
hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • December 2019 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
