Single-use plastic. It’s everywhere.
Medical supplies like gloves, medical equipment, and a vast number of other disposable supplies are a huge environmental issue worldwide. We have used them extensively in the health sector and we don’t have a way to recycle them. Efforts are underway, however. Researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, for example, are detailing how certain medical waste can be recycled successfully and effectively. The method: Plastic is melted and broken down into chemical building blocks, which become raw material to make new plastic.
Everyone involved in healthcare knows how much plastic waste there is. Sometimes it’s burned – and that comes with its issues – and all too often, it’s thrown away in a landfill. As stated in a Chalmers press release, “Disposable healthcare products typically include multiple forms of plastic that cannot be recycled using current technology. On top of that, the products must be treated as contaminated once used, [so] the products need to be handled in a way that avoids the risks of transmitting potentially infectious germs.”. In the case of single-use healthcare products, it is also impossible to utilize recycled plastic, as the purity and quality requirements are too great for such material which is destined for use in the medical field.”
Chalmers scientists say that the problems can be resolved using a process they created known as “thermochemical recycling.” The process uses a technique known as “steam cracking,” where waste is disintegrated by combining it with sand at around 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit. The plastic molecules are turned into gas and can be recycled to make new plastic. The process is more of a “thermal sledgehammer,” says Martin Seemann, associate professor at Chalmers’ Division of Energy Technology. The “thermal sledgehammer” doesn’t merely crush the molecules: It kills bacteria and other microorganisms as well. “What remains are various forms of carbon and hydrocarbon compounds,” Seemann said. “These can then be processed and utilized in the petrochemical industry, to substitute fossil materials that are already being used in production.”
The scientists have already tested products like gloves and face masks. They also prepared a blend that simulates common hospital waste of approximately 10 various plastic materials, as well as cellulose, the news release states. The outcomes were promising in every project.
One of the projects was conducted by Judith González-Arias, who is currently at the University of Seville in Spain. What is so exciting about this technology is that it can deal with the environmental issues that we relate to medical disposables,” González-Arias said. “Thermochemical recycling not only solves the issue that medical waste is not recycled today, but also allows for the recovery of precious carbon atoms.”. This is entirely consistent with the principles of the circular economy and represents a sustainable answer to the pressing problem of the management of medical waste.”
There’s more to it than that, though, so we’ll be revisiting this thrilling subject in our May editor’s letter (the April editor’s letter will be taken up with FODMAPs’ digestion-friendly diet). Until then, though, let’s do what we can to limit single-use plastics at home and the workplace, even if we don’t have a thermal sledgehammer.
