Additional costs of diabetes

[helli]

(This could also be entitled "strange photos I take in unusual places".)

On a recent visit to the hospital, I noticed this in the toilet.
It got me thinking about all the waste we produce with diabetes and how we dispose of it.
For example, there are often discussions about what to do with Libre applicators. With the advice to put the whole thing in the sharps bins, the additional costs to the councils for disposing of them is more than six times as much as if we put them in the landfill. Or if the manufacturers used recyclable materials, the cost of disposal could be even less. Individually, we probably do not create a ton of diabetes waste a year but as a nation we certainly do.
I am not suggesting we change our approach to diabetes waste but thought this was an interesting illustration albeit only showing the costs at one hospital which may be different to what our councils pay or another hospital.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Gosh that’s quite a difference isn’t it!

I have a pair of pliers and screwdriver by my sharps box which I use to carefully dismantle various applicators / inserters (which all have their own fiendish construction) to remove the smallest possible section which has the ‘sharp’ in it, and landfill/recycle the rest depending on the combination of materials involved.

 

[Leadinglights]

My goodness that is a huge cost. I worked in a teaching environment in a lab that was designated as Biohazard Cat 2 and everything that had been in the lab had to be disposed of in clinical waste so things like tissue boxes, gloves and boxes as well as all the plastic disposables like tissue culture flasks, petri dishes, pipettes which had to be autoclaved first so there was a huge bulk of stuff. So the cost must have been huge.

 

[rebrascora]

I am another dismantler of Libre applicators (plastics and metal go to be recycled at the tip) needle in the sharps bin and I change my lancet annually on St Swithin's day and insulin needles are changed Wednesdays and Sundays, so a 1 litre Sharpsafe lasts me about 2-3 years.

That waste disposal charge list is scary!!

 

[nonethewiser]

Couldn't be bothered dismantling applicators if honest, but try to recycle other items including household waste where possible.

Did see a tv programme while back about recycling, on it some expert said that plastic below a certain size gets rejected so sent to landfill, certain size being small pieces of plastic for example milk carton & bottle top size I think. Of course things might have changed since.