The remarkable initiative of Halle Hospital to reduce hospital plastic waste – a German case study
Plastic is omnipresent in hospitals, offering essential benefits in terms of hygiene, safety, and functionality.
But at what environmental cost?
With an average of 619 grams of plastic consumables per patient per day in a typical hospital — according to a German study — it’s urgent to analyze these waste streams to better control them.
This article explores the types and quantities of single-use medical plastics, with the goal of identifying concrete levers to reduce hospital plastic waste.
1. A heavy reliance on plastic that’s hard to avoid
Plastics have become an essential material in healthcare, embedded in every stage of the care pathway.
Their lightness, versatility, and hygienic properties make them indispensable.
But behind this omnipresence lies a deeper issue: a massive dependency.
Hospitals, as hubs of clinical, logistical, and administrative activity, consume plastic in both medical devices (syringes, gloves, masks, catheters) and non-medical applications such as catering, cleaning, and office operations.
Two major categories of plastic waste dominate the sector:
- Durable products, used over several years
- Disposable products, designed for single use before disposal
Sterile, individually packaged single-use items have become the default standard, leading to an exponential rise in waste.
Although the European Union has introduced a directive to limit single-use plastics in non-medical sectors (e.g. cups, bags, cutlery), efforts around medical consumables remain minimal.
Yet the numbers are alarming:
70% of medical devices are made from polymers such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
These same materials are widely used in personal protective equipment (PPE), which makes up nearly half of all hospital plastic consumables.
Major challenges to address to reduce hospital plastic waste
Hospital plastic waste contains up to 25% plastic, significantly more than in standard municipal waste.
Top contributors include: Medical packaging, Cafeteria plastics, Syringes, Blood bags, Tubing and IV lines
A study in an intensive care unit revealed that 30% of the waste generated was plastic, a significant opportunity that remains largely untapped.
In Halle Hospital, scientists estimated that each patient generates 3.1 kg of waste per day, with a large portion being plastic.
While plastics have revolutionized healthcare, they now represent a major obstacle to environmental sustainability.
2. Hospital plastic waste treatment: needs and obstacles
Incineration remains the standard for managing hospital waste, due to concerns about contamination.
And yet, only 15% of medical waste is biologically hazardous, leaving room for more targeted waste management strategies.
In Germany, only 5% of hospital plastics are currently recycled.
This situation stems from several challenges:
- Material diversity and mixing: Medical plastics involve a wide variety of polymers like PP, PVC, and latex. These are often combined with non-plastic components, making sorting and recycling difficult.
- Risk perception: Fears around biological contamination lead to a conservative, risk-averse approach — with automatic incineration applied even to waste streams that are theoretically recyclable.
- Massive reliance on disposables: Because they’re cheap and convenient, single-use products dominate in hospitals. Sterile and designed for one-time use, they massively increase the volume of waste.
- Weak European regulation: While the EU has taken steps to reduce single-use plastics in other sectors (e.g. tableware, bags), similar efforts in healthcare are still in their infancy.
Plastics are also widespread in non-medical activities like food service or administrative operations, adding to the complexity of waste streams.
3. The study: measuring plastic waste to take meaningful action
Welcome behind the scenes of an unusual study, one that finally lets hospital administrators put a real number on their plastic footprint.
Our destination: Halle, Germany, at BG Klinikum Bergmannstrost, a seasoned trauma center with 571 beds, and more than 9,000 surgeries and ER visits per year.
The scope is broad, but not unlimited.
Excluded from the study: food supply, facility maintenance, admin services, and home care. The focus is on the core medical operations of the hospital.
The research team analyzed six major product categories:
Contact devices (syringes, needles, catheters…)
Anesthesia equipment (masks)
Personal protective equipment (PPE) (aprons, masks, gloves…)
General care items (gloves, hygiene products, cups, swabs…)
Incontinence products (pads, mattress covers…)
Sterilization needs (sterilization bags, caps…)
Each category was painstakingly dissected — with strong support from hospital staff, to analyze over 140 products, covering 95% of the plastic consumables used between 2018 and 2019.
How did they do ?
By diving into a massive database of 8,600 product entries per year.
Only the most relevant ones made the cut.
Durable materials? Out. Cotton bandages? Thanks, but no thanks.
The focus was clear: disposable plastic consumables.
And when information was missing, the researchers got creative:
they checked supplier catalogs, conducted on-site product disassembly, and made informed estimates to fill the gaps.
In terms of materials:
- Polypropylene (PP) led the way with 45% of total usage
- Latex followed at 25%
- Polyethylene (PE) came in at 12%
And the undisputed champion of plastic consumption?
Personal protective equipment (PPE) – gloves, masks, gowns – accounting for a whopping 52% of total plastic flows.
Packaging was included in the analysis (primary and secondary layers), but tertiary packaging remained a grey area; stretch films and overly complex cardboard formats were excluded.
A balancing act, yes, but this study lays the foundation for a clear, data-driven understanding of plastic flows in hospitals.
Because knowledge is (almost) the first step to recycling.
4. Understanding waste streams to better control them
The results of the study are both revealing and, let’s be honest, a bit overwhelming.
Let’s start with a key figure: 619 grams of plastic consumables per patient per day, of which 531 grams come directly from plastic waste streams. If that number makes your head spin, wait until you see the breakdown.
The undisputed king of hospital plastics? Personal protective equipment (PPE).
At 304 grams per patient per day, PPE alone accounts for nearly half the total weight of consumables and over half of all plastic flows (52%).
Among them, gloves are the biggest contributor, with 138 grams of plastic per patient per day, a record no one was aiming for.
And what about the other subcategories?
Body and face protection – mostly masks, gowns, and surgical textiles – also carry a heavy environmental weight.
However, since these are used almost exclusively in the operating room, their overall contribution remains limited outside the 9,300 annual surgical procedures.
Coming in second: incontinence products, at 135 grams per patient per day.
A striking 62% of their total weight is made up of plastics, mainly nonwoven polypropylene and polyethylene, used in adult diapers and bed pads.
And if that sounds like a lot, don’t forget the significant amount of cellulose these products also contain, which boosts their overall weight.
Next are contact devices, at 125 grams per patient per day, 121 grams of which are plastics.
This diverse category includes items like syringes, catheters, and IV sets.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), prized for its flexibility and heat resistance, dominates this segment, making up 41% of the plastic weight.
As for the remaining categories, general care items (37 grams), anesthesia, and sterilization supplies, they play a smaller but still meaningful role. Sterilization needs, for instance, are closely tied to the use of reusable equipment, indirectly influencing the amount of plastic used in packaging consumables.
Finally, let’s talk about plastic packaging. It may only account for 16 grams per patient per day, but its ubiquity is a direct consequence of strict sterility requirements. Contact devices are the most packaging-intensive, with each kilo of product generating 70 grams of additional packaging.
In short, this analysis reveals not just a vast range of products but also a high diversity of polymer compositions.
Polypropylene remains the clear leader, followed by latex for gloves, while polymers like PVC hold niche applications.
Fascinating for engineers, but a logistical nightmare for recyclers.
5. Conclusions
The numbers speak for themselves: 619 grams of plastic waste per patient per day, or about one-fifth of all hospital waste.
Among the top contributors:
- PPE (49% of total consumables by weight)
- Incontinence products
- Contact devices
In terms of materials:
- Polypropylene (45%)
- Latex (25%)
- PVC and others in more specialized applications
So how can we reduce this impact?
- Rationalize PPE use
- Explore cellulose-based alternatives for incontinence products
- Invest in dedicated sorting infrastructure
- Prioritize reusable solutions wherever feasible
These actions require long-term vision and investment, but they offer a path forward to transform mountains of waste into opportunities for innovation and sustainability.
In conclusion, medical plastics will remain essential, but the way we manage them must evolve.
With coordinated effort, it is absolutely possible to reduce hospital plastic waste without compromising care quality.
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