by Bob Shuman, Vice President, Healthcare Practice
Hospital leaders are faced today with a myriad of operating, design, and disposal options for the proper management of their waste generated on a daily basis. Each of these options creates consequences directly related to budget, compliance, safety and greening/sustainability. The largest hospital waste-streams (by volume) are solid waste (trash), followed by regulated medical waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste and then, hazardous waste. Each waste-stream is associated with its own federal, state and local regulations and rules. However, despite being the smallest waste-stream generated from hospitals (as a total percent of volume), hazardous waste is, by far, the most highly regulated and costly waste-stream to manage as it poses the most danger to our environment and our selves.
Most products, services and technology progress at a 
logarithmic pace over the course of 5 – 10 years. This cannot be said however, for most hospital waste-stream management programs today. The exceptions to this statement are those hospitals who have completely re-designed their programs within the context of new technologies, systems, equipment, processes and well thought-out integrative solutions.
As one example, recycling was once considered the domain of “tree-huggers”; it was considered a “good thing to do” for the environment. Today, it is recognized by many progressive hospital leaders as a fundamental cornerstone of their waste-stream management programs. The more waste you can divert from more expensive disposal options to lesser expensive options, the more cost-effective (and green) results you can both produce (and measure). It’s a better outcome for both the hospital’s bottom line and the environment.
To achieve a truly balanced and cost-effective waste-management program, hospitals need to begin thinking in terms of an integrated approach rather than a silo approach (waste-stream by waste-stream). It is imperative that leaders charged with the management of hospital waste begin to work collaboratively with the most progressive, forward thinkers in the waste management realm, of which Triumvirate Environmental is one. Creating a cost-effect, compliant, safe and sustainable waste-management program requires the through-put of careful consideration and design, not luck or happenstance.
Please feel free to contact me to discuss how Triumvirate may design a 1st class waste management, collection and disposal program for you.
Robert C. Shuman
VP – Healthcare Practice Triumvirate Environmental
rshuman@triumvirate.com
347-907-3392