Hospital Sustainability

5.9 million tons of waste are generated from hospitals each year from more than1 5000 hospitals in the U.S. alone.2

With BLUE RENEW*, we can help you recycle HALYARD* Sterilization Wrap. Together we can bring those numbers down.

Sustainability and environmental issues in the hospital industry can be alleviated by recycling medical waste.

HALYARD* has developed the BLUE RENEW* program to assist your facility in successfully recycling HALYARD* Sterilization Wrap.

Medical facilities across the United States are now recycling their used, clean HALYARD* Sterilization Wrap made from recyclable #5 polypropylene fabric. Instead of clogging landfills, your recycled HALYARD* Sterilization Wrap begins a second life with BlueCON Resin™ Products derived from HALYARD* BLUE RENEW* program. BlueCON Resin™ Products include distribution and product totes, garbage cans, bed pans and wash basins.

250 Hospitals

In North America are diverting over

4 million pounds

of wrap from landfills each yearx saving U.S. Hospitals over $280K3

Halyard has supported more than 750 hospitals

with wrap recycling initiatives4

What sets BLUE RENEW* apart from other recycling programs?

BLUE RENEW* is not a “one size fits all” program. It is customized to YOUR needs so you can ACHIEVE YOUR HOSPITAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.

HALYARD* provides complimentary, professional on-site consulting services to educate and train your staff, as well as monitor and report annually on your BLUE RENEW* performance. These value added services are worth over $6,000 per facility.

We help you:

  • CONNECT with local waste haulers and recyclers
  • EDUCATE your OR staff on the critical factors to success with the BLUE RENEW* program
  • ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS by sharing our recycling expertise
  • TRACK AND MEASURE recycling performance by providing metrics to include in your hospital sustainability report

HERE'S HOW BLUE RENEW* WORKS IN YOUR O.R.

You collect your clean, used HALYARD* Sterilization Wrap
Collector picks up at Hospital, sorts, bales & stores for Recycler pickup
Recycler collects and processes
Processor extrudes processed wrap into pellets
Pellets are used to create BlueCONTM resin products
BLUE RENEW* Frequently Asked Questions
A: There is no cost by Halyard to assist with the program and you should not experience any costs internally in running this program only savings from diverting the waste from the landfill. Depending on your collector’s business practice they may charge for each pick-up or require to re-write your contract to show collection of blue wrap. 
A: Since there are a lot of costs associated with transporting, sorting and baling your blue wrap by your collector, all revenue of this program are paid to them. 
A: Halyard will assist you in engaging an existing vendor that is already servicing your facility. The idea is to create a backhaul system, they service your hospital with their main business, then take away the blue wrap. 
A: All tape and labels can remain on the wrap, it’s a good idea to remove any large instruction sheet that may be affixed before collecting. 
A: Once we start collecting in the OR, the program can be introduced to all other departments within the facility (L&D, SPD…) 
A: Halyard has their own Blue Renew Consultant that works with your local Halyard rep to handle all phases of the program. Once a collector has been selected and all steps of the process are complete, we will request an in-service day and time to train all your OR shifts on Blue Renew collection. 
A: Blue Renew is a complete OR recycling program; however, it is vital that the program start off slowly and very clean. For this reason, we recommend only blue wrap is put in the collection bag. Once a discipline is built within the OR to collect clean blue wrap, we can start to add saline bottles and other clean recyclables. 
A: Clean blue wrap collection is only allowed before the surgery and must be tied off prior to incision. 
A: This will depend on the size of your hospital and how often the collector services the facility. Halyard will assist in setting a pick up frequency that works for everyone. 
A: We understand space issues, but the good news is we have set up over 600 programs and all the hospital had the same concern. We will help make it work! 
A: Usually the collector will supply bins for collection in the dirty room and loading dock, it will be the responsibility of the facility to supply bins for collection in the OR. 
A: It is very important to Halyard that all wrap stays in the U.S.A. We have aligned with recyclers that melt the material into resin which will be used in all types of products. Great news, Halyard has aligned with a company that is making products that hospitals use every day out of blue wrap. These products are available for purchase at a price competitive or cheaper then you are currently paying. 
A: There is obviously two different types of non-blue wrap waste; one is infectious waste and one is non-infectious waste. The collector will be trained on handling your blue wrap waste and will act accordingly if a non-blue wrap item ends up in the bag. But it is very important to remember that you are accountable for placing infectious waste in the right bag and your collector could at any time stop the program if they see an occurrence of infectious waste entering the waste stream. There is no reason for this to occur if we are collecting pre-incision and tying off the bag? 
A: Since we are the manufacturer of blue wrap we feel obligated to offer a sustainable recycling solution to our customers. It is important for us that you see the value add to your Health system in a program of this nature and hopefully create a longer term contract to support this initiative.
A: Absolutely, we work with the collector to provide quarterly or semi-annual collection numbers back to you. 

Articles & Resources

BLUE RENEW* Infographic
BLUE RENEW* Application
BLUE RENEW* FAQ's
From Blue to Green: Implementing a Sterilization Wrap Recycling Program
READ MORE 

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Sources

1. “More Needs To Be Done To Prioritize Climate Change,” Health Aairs Blog, Feburary 25, 2016. DOI:10.1377/hblog20160225. 053279

2. http://www.aha.org/aha/resource-center/Statistics-and-Studies/REGISTRATION_FY_08.pdf#registered

3. Data on File. 2016 Halyard Health.

4. Grogan, Terry. “Solid Waste Reduction in US Hospitals.” Hospital Engineering & Facilities Management (2003): 88-91.

5. Data on File. 2017 Halyard Health.