Reusables vs. Disposables
In the area of textile use, healthcare administrators are faced with the question of when to use disposable products as an alternative to reusables. In the past two decades, makers of disposable products have diminished the environmental and fiscal costs of their products while dismissing the advantages of reusable products. But when examining the “true cost” of disposables, reusable products fair much better.
By switching to reusable products, healthcare facilities can more quickly achieve H2E goals by reducing solid waste in their operations.
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What is the “true cost” of using disposable textiles?
When doing a cost analysis between a reusable product and its disposable alternative, the common mistake healthcare managers make is to only account for the purchase price of the disposable. However, the “true cost” of using a disposable product goes beyond just the purchase price. The following formula will help you determine the “true cost” of using disposables:
Purchase Price
+ Cost of Waste Disposal
+ Occupational Health Costs
+ Environmental Impact
+ Warehousing Cost
= TRUE COST OF DISPOSABLES
When decision makers do the math, they will find that the “true cost” of disposables is twice that of using its reusable counterpart.
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What is the cost of the waste generated by disposables?
H2E reports that America’s hospitals generate 6,600 tons of waste each day. Hospitals that have chosen to use disposable products rather than reusables produce a substantially greater amount of solid and medical waste, costing them more in disposal costs. According to a 2000 report by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, hospital’s cost of disposing of waste is $44 to $68 a ton.
One of the common areas in the hospital where disposable products have been used as an alternative to reusables is in the operating room. According to the 2005 Comparative Operating Revenues and Expense Profile for the Healthcare Textile Maintenance Industry, which included 49% of all U.S. hospital beds in its study, approximately 6.5 pounds of surgical textiles are used per bed each day in hospitals with 300 or more beds. If a 300-bed hospital chose to use disposable surgical products rather than reusables, they would incur upwards of an additional $250,000 in costs to trash the disposable products – about 35 cents per pound that should be added to the purchase price or $833.33 per bed per year.
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What are the occupational health costs of disposables?
According to the U.S. Operational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), healthcare garments need to be “ appropriate for the task and degree of exposure to blood borne pathogens and infectious bacteria anticipated.” The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) published a study that showed that when laundered properly, reusable garments and drapes are 70% more effective in providing barrier protection.
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What are the environmental costs of using disposables?
The environmental cost of using disposable products is extremely significant. Unlike reusable textiles, disposable products are used once and then thrown away. Consider these points:
- Monuments of Waste: Disposable healthcare products add millions of tons of waste each year to America’s landfills.
- Pollution: Disposable healthcare textiles in landfills have the potential to seep into ground water and affect water supplies. Burned medical waste also pollutes the environment.
- Resources: Water, energy and chemicals are necessary for the production of disposable healthcare products. However, unlike reusables, these products are only used once and then have to be remanufactured using more water, energy and chemicals.
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What are the environmental costs of using reusable textiles?
While processing reusable products requires resources like water, energy and chemicals, modern laundering techniques have vastly improved the efficiency of the laundering process. For example, washing a pound of healthcare textile had previously required three gallons of water. However, thanks to innovative equipment, that number is less than three-quarters of a gallon today. Further water savings are being achieved in modern laundries by recycling and reusing water. Natural gas and oil use has also decreased per pound thanks to heat reclamation and other innovative solutions to return energy to washers, dryers and ironers. Chemical use also is declining thanks to chemical injection systems. Advanced wastewater treatment systems successfully clean the water used in laundering facilities so they may be discharged safely into the municipal sewer system.
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What is the cost of warehousing disposable products?
Though not often considered, disposable products require more space for storage than reusable healthcare textiles. Reusable products are provided on a daily basis, unlike disposable products. This reduces the amount of inventory on hand. The space currently used for storing disposable products could be used instead to help generate additional revenue.
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Talking Points
Using reusable textile products rather than disposable textile can help healthcare organizations more quickly achieve its H2E goals while also reducing costs. When discussing reusables versus disposables with administrators, consider these talking points:
- Reusables are better for the environment
| a. |
Disposables are used once and trashed, increasing the amount of waste generated by the facility. |
| b. |
Disposables require water, energy and chemicals in order to be manufactured. |
| c. |
Whether sent to a landfill or burned, disposable medical textiles potentially can pollute water supplies and the air. |
| d. |
Innovations in laundering have cut the amount of water, energy and chemical use by two to three times. |
- Using reusable textiles will help achieve H2E goals
| a. |
By reducing the amount of disposable textiles they use, hospitals organizations can eliminate hundreds of thousands to millions of pounds of waste generated by disposables. |
- Reusables costs half as much when compared to the “true cost” of disposables
| a. |
The purchase price is not the only cost of a disposable textile product. |
| b. |
The cost of disposing hospital waste is $44 to $68 a ton. |
| c. |
In an operating room using disposable textiles, the disposal cost alone is $250,000 for a 300-bed hospital. |
| d. |
An ANSI and AAMI study show that reusable surgical gowns and drapes are 70% more effective at providing barrier protection than disposable alternatives. |
| e. |
Disposable textiles require more on-site storage as compared with reusables that are delivered daily. The space currently used to warehouse disposable products could be converted to revenue-generating uses, such as for medical equipment, operating rooms or more patient beds. |
- Medical professionals and patients prefer the quality of reusables
| a. |
Doctors, nurses and patients prefer the feel of linen items rather than the coarse paper of disposables. |
| b. |
Professionally laundered linens provide the healthcare facility with a more professional image. |
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Key Resources
TRSA Resuables vs. Disposables Presentation
PowerPoint presentation highlighting the environmental and fiscal impact of disposable textile products as compared with reusable textiles.
Reusable Textiles: The Responsible Choice (Acute Care)
Introduces the benefits of reusable textiles at a healthcare staff meeting. This 11-minute video details the advantages of reusable products over disposables.
Reusable Textiles: The Responsible Choice (Long Term Care)
Also introduces the benefits of reusable textiles, but with a focus on long term care facilities.
C.A.R.D. (Cost Analysis of Reusables and Disposables)
This Excel-based C.A.R.D. software tool compares and analyzes costs of a reusable underpad with a disposable. The case in favor of reusable pads is made based on a minimum of 2.2 disposables per patient change required versus one reusable underpad per patient change.
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