According to Practice Greenhealth, an organization for sustainable health care, operating rooms drive up to 60% of a hospital’s revenue while producing more than 30% of its waste, and two-thirds of its regulated medical waste while consuming three to six times more energy per square foot than anywhere else in the facility.
- The medical center has achieved a 72% reduction of anesthesia-related greenhouse gas emissions (from a 2018 baseline) across the health system.
- At ambulatory surgery locations, we reduced the amount of air exchanges during unoccupied times in the operating rooms during evenings and weekends, which has saved up to 50% of the energy loads in those spaces.
- Operating rooms at Ohio State’s Eye and Ear Institute and at The James started a pilot program to collect clinical plastics for recycling, diverting 2.5 tons in fiscal year 2023.
Greenhouse gas emissions per anesthetic agent from baseline
Image above: This graph shows the historical greenhouse gas emissions per anesthetic agent by year. Agents shown are sevoflurane, isoflurane and desflurane. Each year shows a steady decline in greenhouse gas emissions.