Winning the Race Against Waste

The Johns Hopkins Hospital has reduced regulated medical waste by more than half in four years.

Published in Dome - April 2015 and Summer 2015

The state of Maryland requires hospitals to handle and dispose of items
contaminated with potentially infectious materials differently from everyday garbage. The disposal process is costly and can pollute the environment.

Since 2011, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has reduced its annual production of regulated medical waste by 57 percent. Kristian Hayes, assistant director of general services, attributes the reduction to a hospitalwide awareness campaign aimed at educating staff on the difference between regulated medical waste and plain trash, and on how to properly dispose of them.

The initiative has cut disposal costs by 77 percent per year. The reduction also earned a 2014 award for environmental excellence from Practice Greenhealth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable health care.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital's regulated medical waste is shrinking

pie chart

2011
33.8%

pie chart

2012
25.3%

pie chart

2013
13.8%

pie chart

2014
13.4%

Reduction in Pounds

black weight

2011
4,740,097

black weight

2012
4,217,797

black weight

2013
2,048,375

black wieght

2014
2,041,939

Trimming the Cost

money stack

2011
$1,277,631

money stack

2012
$984,797

money stack

2013
$336,661

money stack

2014
$323,331