Stony Brook University Hospital Medicine is committed to supporting sustainability efforts and reducing our carbon footprint, including by reducing our waste. Waste reduction programs not only benefit our planet, but also our employees and communities.
Goals for 2026:
- Trial a new sequential compression device system using reprocess-able calf sleeves
- Assess potential to further reduce HFA inhalers to dry powder inhalers
- Review patient care packs and eliminate unnecessary products
- Reduce the use of desk-side trash container liners by 50% through educational programming and modification of the physical environment
- Complete standardizing and dose-rounding protocols
- Reduce hazardous waste by 10% with the new PELORIS histology tissue processor.
Recent Highlights:
Reducing Total Waste
SBUH decreased its total waste per patient day to 37 pounds in CY2025. The median report from Practice Greenhealth participants is 42 pounds per patient day.
Stony Brook University Hospital continues to consider general, medical, and chemical waste implications of its activities through scrutiny of capital purchases and review of all new products by the Product Management Committee. This committee discusses the avoidance of chemicals of concern and each product’s life cycle value. Reusable products are preferentially selected. SBUH also periodically considers its process to find ways to minimize waste and chemicals of concern (e.g., examining fresh pathology specimens when possible and avoiding fixative chemicals).
Reducing Regulated Medical Waste
Regulated medical waste is expensive in both disposal costs and environmental impact. The median value of Practice Greenhealth reporting hospitals was 2.6 pounds, with values generally ranging from 1.2 to 6.6 pounds. Waste audits, focusing on red-bag and sharps regulated medical waste, identified that the waste streams included a large quantity of inappropriate materials that were better managed, financially, and environmentally, in the municipal waste 
stream. Materials such as drink containers, lunch waste, packaging, tissues, wipes, and bandages that that did not qualify as RMW were being sent out as RMW. Environmental Services then conducted a quality project to better educate staff on waste segregation and changed the physical location or size of some collection containers to reach a net reduction in RMW. Based on physical and educational interventions to support better environmentally sensitive choices, between 2023 and 2025:
- Total RMW decreased by 21% (341 tons to 271 tons)
- Bagged Waste decreased by 29% (193 to 137 tons, main emphasis)
- Sharps Waste decreased by 10% (148 to 133 tons)
- Total RMW per Patient Day decreased by 24%
Reducing Food Service Waste
Food Service initiated a quality project with a deep dive into the kitchen waste generated during breakfast preparation, which included investment in software and training of staff. The goal of this quality project was to decrease waste generation by 25%. The Hospital participated in the Safety Net Decarbonization Collaborative cohort with the Institute of Hospital Improvement on the project and was able to achieve a 58% reduction. This success inspires further deep dives.
RecycleMania
In the spring and early summer, we conducted Recycle Mania, a friendly recycling competition between units at the hospital and Health Science Center (HSC). The competition encouraged departments to properly dispose of unwanted materials and reduce clutter. Across the Hospital and HSC, 34,000 pounds of recyclable material were collected and recycled, including electronics, paper, metal, etc.
Overall Recycling has resulted in substantial savings over the years:
Team Leaders:
Nikki Hamblin, Ellen O'Hare, Jeannene Strianse, Martha Houlihan, and Paul Ryan
Policies:
EC0069 Hospital Recycling and Sustainability
EC0040 Reusable Hospital Surplus Property
MM0084 Pharmaceuticals Waste Management
