The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands calculated that the Dutch healthcare sector contributes to about 7 percent of the total emissions of greenhouse gases. Studies suggest that next to waste production, the production of materials for healthcare, as well as blue water consumption, are the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses in the Dutch healthcare system (1). In short, the sector that works to preserve our health is also polluting the world.
“We can try and make every healthcare-based activity, product, and pathway more sustainable,” states Dr Chiara Cadeddu, Associate Professor at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management at Erasmus University Rotterdam, “but if the workers are not an active part of the solution, we will never reach our goal.”
Over the coming three years, Cadeddu will be working alongside healthcare workers and researchers from 11 EU countries to search for sustainable solutions for green health and care.
“Our research is focused on answering questions such as: how can we reduce the amount of waste produced in the operation room? Can we offer healthy and low-carbon impact food in hospital cafeterias? What can we do to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation of workers, patients, and visitors to and from the hospital?” states Cadeddu.
“Our goal is to develop 10 healthcare sustainable solutions together with healthcare workers. These solutions should ideally reduce carbon emissions and pollution. Should we be successful, we will look at how we can expand this across hospitals in the European Union,” adds Cadeddu.
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Erasmus University Rotterdam is one of the partners in this research. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme under the grant agreement n°101137340.
(1) The environmental impact of the Dutch health-care sector beyond climate change: an input–output analysis. Michelle A Steenmeijer, MSc, João F D Rodrigues, PhD, Michiel C Zijp, PhD, Susanne L Waaijers-van der Loop, PhD.