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A circular economy model for hospital generated PPE ad medical single use plastic waste: Demonstrating opportunities for reduction and reuse
Check out the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care's (CCGHC) latest literature review and environmental scan of medical single use plastic (SUP) waste, including personal protective equipment (PPE) in the context of a circular economy for health care.
The health care sector has increasingly contributed to plastic pollution through the consumption of disposable PPE and other medical SUP products. Shifting from a linear economy to a circular economy model for managing the products that currently end up as hospital-generated waste, has potential to mitigate some of the environmental harms associated with manufacturing, using, and disposing of medical SUPs. In particular, the circular economy may help to reverse the current trajectory toward single use medical products and supplies through a renewed emphasis on long-lasting design, reuse, remanufacturing and refurbishment to maintain products and materials in their highest value state for as long as possible.
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Webinar Invitation - Making smart energy cost decisions at health care facilities using RETScreen® Expert Software
Join us for a lively, 75 minute review of how the RETScreen® Expert Clean Energy Management Software is helping health care energy stewards across Canada effectively manage energy, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions.
The results of four energy projects evaluated using the RETScreen software will be showcased. You will see how multiple RETScreen modules can be deployed by a broad range of energy stakeholders to rapidly identify, assess, track and optimize the performance of clean energy investments throughout the entire project life cycle whether they be energy efficiency, renewable energy, co-generation or infrastructure retrofit projects.
Learning Outcomes/Objectives:
Making the right financial decision requires justification. Sometimes the right decision is to wait or deploy capital elsewhere. When it comes to energy and emissions in buildings, the RETScreen® Expert Clean Energy Management Software is a valuable time-saving tool for health care facility managers. Learn how powerful features of the RETScreen Expert software were used for energy project evaluations at four Canadian health care facilities.
Date: March 29th, 2022
Time: 9am PT/ 12pm ET
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Leading Sustainable Health Systems
CASCADES
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There are many opportunities for the health sector to develop and implement sustainability inerventions that protect, promote, and prioritize health.
This online course offers case studies and group discussion, where participants will gain knowledge, develop skills, and forge collaborations that will help them advocate for and participate in a bottom-up and top-down shift toward a more environmentally sustainable health system.
Participants will hear from experts in sustainable care, explore practical examples of national and international sustainable clinical practices and examine how to integrate sustainability in quality improvement practices within a health team, department or organization.
Date/Time: Every Wednesday evening 6:30 - 9:00pm ET between May 11 - June 1, 2022
Price: $1,050 for CMA/CSPL members and $1,400 for non-members. Residents can contact pli@cma.ca for a promo code to receive a further discount.
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Call for submissions - Canadian Healthcare Facilities Summer Issue
CHES
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The summer issues of CHES's Journal Canadian Healthcare Facilities (CHF), will once again highlight CHES member success stories.
This year's special feature section builds on the theme of the IFHE 2022 Congress/ CHES 2022 National Conference - Unleashing Innovation: Healthcare Innovation Excellence.
CHES members who are interested in sharing their story are encouraged to contact the journal's editor. Clare Tattersall, at claret@mediaedge.ca with the proposed topic. All topics must be pre-approved by the Editor prior to article submission.
Deadline for final article submissions is Monday June 6th, 2022
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A BIG thank you to SaveOnEnergy for their continued financial support for the Ontario Green Health Care Award and the Ontario Energy Behaviour Award.
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Innovative atlas puts Indigenous knowledge on the map - literally - to help tackle climate crisis
CBC News
Until now, the interactive atlas did not show climate change projections for Indigenous communities. Only Canadian urban centres were included.
The newly-launched feature provides information about the impacts of climate change on 634 First Nations communities and 53 Inuit communities, while also profiling projects surrounding climate change adaptation and mitigation across the Métis homeland.
The map also shares videos from Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers, centring their knowledge as a resource and it highlights projects aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Canada launches consultations on a clean electricity standard to achieve a net-zero emissions grid by 2035
Cision
From our homes to our businesses to our workplaces, electricity powers our lives. So as we fight climate change, create good jobs, and build a strong, sustainable economy, clean electricity must be a key part of the solution.
On March 15th, 2022 the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, launched consultations to develop Canada's Clean Electricity Standard (CES) and drive progress towards a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. Work on clean electricity will also be key to reaching Canada's ambitious and achievable emissions target of 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
At home, moving to a net-zero grid by 2035 will create significant economic opportunities and jobs for communities across the country. Globally, it will allow Canada to continue leading in a highly competitive field.
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Climate change is making allergy season even worse
The Atlantic
Brace yourselves, allergy sufferers: New research shows that pollen season is going to get a lot longer and more intense with climate change.
A recent study finds that the U.S. will face up to a 200 percent increase in total pollen this century if the world continues producing carbon-dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, and other sources at a high rate. Under that scenario, the spring pollen season will generally start up to 40 days earlier and last up to 19 days longer than it does today.
Atmospheric scientists study how the atmosphere and climate affect trees and plants. Although most studies focus on pollen overall, researchers zoomed in on more than a dozen types of grasses and trees and how their pollen will affect regions across the U.S. in different ways. For example, because of species such as oak and cypress, the Northeast will see the biggest pollen increase, but allergens will be on the rise just about everywhere, with consequences for human health and the economy.
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The Afterlife of Waste
BASF Canada and Bullfrog Power
In the midst of a pandemic that has increased the use of disposable goods, it is now more important than ever to have conversations about reducing waste and designing for reuse in Canada. The Afterlife of Waste is a documentary produced by BASF Canada and Bullfrog Power that explores the opportunities and challenges of implementing a circular economy in Canada.
Through conversations with relevant stakeholders and representative at all stages of the supply chain, including BASF Canada, Chemical Industry Association of Canada, Club Coffee, Deloitte, EcoSafe, Loblaw, London Drugs, Recycling Council of Ontario, TerraCycle, and ZooShare, The Afterlife of Waste discovers the innovations that are extracting energy and further value from our waste, and the challenges each face in pursuing that goal.
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ALT TEX: Turning food waste into textiles
Bullfrog power
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Myra Arshad’s background is in business, but the textile industry has always been close to her heart. Her family has been involved in textile manufacturing for decades.
Myra’s hyper-awareness of the true cost of fashion prompted her to leave her corporate career and found
ALT TEX, a venture that’s turning food waste into biodegradable, carbon-neutral textiles.
ALT TEX gathers post-industrial organic waste, processes it to create biofibre, and creates polyester-like textiles that can replace synthetic materials. This process reduces carbon emissions in two ways: by diverting food waste that would otherwise produce landfill gas, and by reducing the need for virgin polyester, which is made from petroleum.
And on top of reducing emissions, ALT TEX produces a biodegradable product that can be used again in a circular supply chain.
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Solar farm powers Morrison Hospital for 50 hours without back-up from the grid in winter months
CBC News
The UK’s first hospital-owned solar farm has surpassed expectations by providing enough electricity to not only contribute to the daily power needs of Morriston Hospital in Swansea, but to also cover 100% of its demand for 50 hours.
This is despite only operating during the shortest days of the year. The £5.7m solar farm was built thanks to a loan scheme set up by the Welsh Government to decarbonise the public sector by 2030, and is repayable on an invest to save basis.
It is estimated that the hospital has already saved an estimated £120,000 in electricity bills since it was switched on in November, and is projected to save 1000 tonnes of carbon and £500,000 per year in bills when fully operational.
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Bullfrog Power signs renewable energy power purchase agreement alongside Shopify and RBC
Bullfrog Power
Bullfrog Power Inc., Spark Power’s sustainability division, is pleased to announce the signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) that directly supports the construction of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Canada’s utility-scale wind project.
The 130 MW Rattlesnake Ridge Wind Power Project, located southwest of Medicine Hat, Alberta, is expected to begin commercial operations by May 2022.
Companies use PPAs to facilitate renewable growth and obtain an economic supply of green energy attributes. They achieve this by providing price certainty to developers, which helps developers secure financing for the new wind or solar project.
Bullfrog Power partnered with RBC and Shopify to form a buyers’ group and stack demand for the large renewable project.
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Canada's new electric vehicle registrations soar in 2021 but still lag behind Europe
IG Wealth Management
Statistics Canada says 65,253 new battery-only and plug-in hybrid electric cars were registered in the first nine months of 2021, more than the number registered across 12 months in any previous year.
In all of 2020, Canadians registered 54,353 electric vehicles, often referred to as EVs. In 2019, there were 56,165. Data for the final three months of 2021 is not yet available but for the first nine months, EVs represented five per cent of new cars registered, up from three per cent in both 2020 and 2019.
Joanna Kyriazis, a program manager at Clean Energy Canada, said it is good news to see growth in Canada's EV market, but it's not keeping pace with Europe.
In 2019, France, Germany and the United Kingdom were on par with Canada with electric cars making up three per cent of all new registrations. By last year, electric vehicles made up almost 18 per cent of new registrations in the U.K., 19 per cent in France and 26 per cent in Germany.
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Sorting the EVs from the hype in Honda's $1.38-billion CR-V Hybrid assembly plant announcement
Electric Autonomy
Some of Canada’s top politicians were present earlier in March at Honda Canada’s assembly plant in Alliston, Ont., to announce another original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) new investment in the province’s automaking sector — specifically, $1.38 billion over six years for an assembly line overhaul to begin production of Honda’s new 2023 CR-V Hybrid crossover.
Honda Canada president and CEO Jean Marc Leclerc said the retooling “represents an important milestone for Honda as we move forward in our ambitious vision to make battery electric vehicles represent 100 per cent of our North America vehicle sales by 2040.”
But while the announcement is good news for jobs and the economy, one important detail can’t be overlooked — the hybrid electric vehicle they’ll be making at Alliston, the Honda CR-V Hybrid, only has one fuel source: gasoline. It won’t have a plug to enable it to draw power from the electrical grid and is not zero emission.
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The World's Best Hospitals 2022
Newsweek
The world's hospitals have been the front line in medicine's constantly evolving war against COVID-19 for two years now. According to the experts who helped guide the results of the annual ranking of the World's Best Hospitals, that has meant learning to adapt to new and existing challenges quickly and improvising on the fly.
Medical institutions struggled with many challenges over the course of the pandemic but what has set the world's leading hospitals apart is their continued ability to deliver the highest-quality patient care and conduct critical medical research even as they focused on battling COVID. Indeed, as the fourth annual ranking of the World's Best Hospitals by Newsweek and Statista shows, consistency in excellence is the hallmark of these institutions, with familiar names dominating the list and top spots.
Congratulations to Toronto General - University Health Network, for achieving the fourth spot on this years "Worlds Best Hospitals" list. Also a big congratulations to the other two Canadian hospitals that made it in the top 30!
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From bandages to buildings: Identifying the environmental hotspots of hospitals
Journal of Cleaner Production
The provision of healthcare leads to high environmental impacts and economic costs for our society. Within the healthcare sector, hospitals are a main contributor to both aspects. In order to determine which areas of a hospital contribute most to the environmental impact, a life cycle assessment of 33 acute care hospitals in Switzerland was conducted.
The analysis shows that building infrastructure and catering are the main contributors for various environmental impacts, followed by heating and electricity. Waste and wastewater, pharmaceuticals, and medical and housekeeping products are relevant for at least three categories, whereas textiles, and paper use and printing are only relevant for one to two categories.
The large variation in the environmental impact of different hospitals reveals that there is a considerable yet untapped potential for sustainability improvements in the hospital sector.
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Version 8.1 of the RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software platform has been released with an array of new features. It is now available for download from the RETScreen website HERE.
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EVENTS, TRAINING AND WEBINARS |
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Electric Earth Day
Join Canadians from all over the country in events to celebrate and experience Electric Earth Day!
From April 16th - 24th, the week surrounding Earth Day, electrified vehicle dealers (including e-bikes, plug-in electrics, hybrids, and more!) will host test-drive events for their communities. You can also take part in educational workshops and events to get informed about electrified vehicles.
Earth Day Canada wants to encourage Canadians to explore the electrified mobility options available to them. That’s why each participating location hosting a test drive event will offer an incentive to each participant (incentives vary depending on the establishment).
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Seminar series: Research needs for a climate positive health system |
The Centre for Sustainable Health Systems is hosting a series of seminars, funded by the Connaught Global Challenge Award to develop an International Research Network for Climate Positive Care (IRNCPC).
This seminar series aims to provoke new thinking on critical issues relevant to climate positive health systems while engaging a wide range of disciplinary communities in considering research opportunities at the intersection of sustainability and healthcare.
Please find below a list of the confirmed dates and topics. Visit their Seminar Series page for more information.
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Health of Canadians in a changing climate - advancing our knowledge for action |
Please join us for this webinar where you will learn about the following:
- Growing risks to Canadians from climate change related to impacts on air quality; natural hazards; food safety and security; water quantity, quality and security; infectious diseases; mental health; Canada’s health systems; and special challenges faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
- Vulnerability factors that increase risks for certain populations and communities; and
- Promising adaptation measures that can support efforts to get ahead of the climate change curve and protect the health and well-being of all Canadians.
Date: Tuesday, March 29th, 2022
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm ET
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Circular economy and government procurement: An opportunity for SMEs
In support of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their role in advancing circular economies, Circular Innovation Council, in partnership with Procurement Assistance Canada – ON Region, is hosting an exclusive webinar to educate and support entrepreneurs and business owners to start their journey toward circularity and myth-bust government procurement.
Join them for an hour-long webinar that covers opportunities for SMEs:
- Introducing circular economy concepts and the role of procurement
- Showcasing circular SME innovators in action around the world
- Discussing the role of public procurement and links to economic development
- Examining how circular considerations into business models strengthen competitive advantage
- Explaining how to do business with the federal government
- Dispelling myths about selling to government
- Directing resources and complimentary support for SMEs
Date: March 31st, 2022
Time: 12:00 PM ET
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Olivia Chow of the Institute for Change Leaders: Training organizers to build movements
Do you have a desire to step up and fight for a better, fairer, more just world?
The Institute for Change Leaders (ICL) teaches the skills that organizers, activists and campaigners need to win social change.
Join them for the following two webinars on Effective Lobbying and Deep Canvassing, both presented by Olivia Chow and the Institute for Change Leaders.
Effective Lobbying: March 31st from 1:00-2:00PM ET
Deep Canvassing: April 7th from 1:00-2:00PM ET
Registration for the series (Two webinars) is $50 and each session will be held on Zoom Meetings with cameras enabled and with all the interactivity we can muster (breakouts, polls, discussion). All registrants will be provided with link to the recordings and the presentation slides.
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RETScreen® is a Clean Energy Management Software system for energy efficiency, renewable energy and cogeneration project feasibility analysis as well as ongoing energy performance analysis.
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Have you registered as an organ donor?
Contact your local organ donation agency and speak to your family about your wishes. You have the power to save and transform lives.
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The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is Canada’s premier green health care resource network, leading the evolution of green in Canada’s health sector as a national voice and catalyst for environmental change. www.greenhealthcare.ca
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Some articles referred to in the Digest make reference to services and/or product offerings from specific suppliers. The CCGHC recommends that readers research the service and product offerings available through a wider range of suppliers for comparison purposes and in keeping with public sector purchasing guidelines. These articles should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product or service. |
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