Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To measure the waste generation and lifecycle environmental emissions from cataract surgery via phacoemulsification in a recognized resource-efficient setting.

Setting

Two tertiary care centers of the Aravind Eye Care System in southern India.

Design

Observational case series.

Methods

Manual waste audits, purchasing data, and interviews with Aravind staff were used in a hybrid environmental lifecycle assessment framework to quantify the environmental emissions associated with cataract surgery. Kilograms of solid waste generated and midpoint emissions in a variety of impact categories (eg, kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents).

Results

Aravind generates 250 grams of waste per phacoemulsification and nearly 6 kilograms of carbon dioxide-equivale

SUBMITTER: Thiel CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5728421 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature