In what is believed to be a world-first, Kiwi eye surgeons are recycling their medical waste.
The sustainability team at Southern Cross Healthcare has teamed up with Johnson & Johnson to repurpose 10,000 disposal lens delivery systems.
The single-use plastic device, used to insert a lens during a cataract operation, was destined for the dump or the fire before it started being collected this year.
Southern Cross Christchurch general manager Nicole Forster said the device will now get sanitised and broken down before being turned into new decks, benches, and "things that us Kiwis love".
"It’s great to be leading first in the world from Ōtautahi Christchurch in New Zealand," she said.
"There’s a lot of waste created from the surgical process, from the healthcare process."
An estimated 40,000 New Zealanders require cataract surgery every year, and each operation causes 150 kilograms of CO2 to be produced.
Ophthalmologist Dr Ainsley Morris said 85% of the medical waste which is produced in an operation is non-hazardous and "is cleaner than the stuff you put out for recycling".
She said the introduction of recycling could be a game changer.
"If it works in ophthalmology, then why can't it work in all of the other specialties and why can't it work all over the world?" she said.
"This project is ground-breaking because it is removing the barriers to sustainability and these days, we all have to look after our patients, our community, our planet."
Johnson & Johnson Vision's Mark Shephard said he can't see any reason why every plastic single-use device can’t be recycled.
"There seems to be a bit of a grey area with the waste disposal of medical devices because the loader only goes into the eye. There’s a grey area whether this enters the body or not," he said.
"Every eye theatre that uses the Tecnis Lens now has a recycle box in their theatre. It's proven a huge success in New Zealand.
"Johnson & Johnson are now looking at ways we can roll this out across Australia in 2024."
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