Cairns Private Hospital reaches environmental milestone

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RAMSAY Health Care has hit another milestone in its commitment to a healthier planet, reaching its goal of saving 50 million single use plastic items from landfill.

Cairns Private Hospital contributed more than 668,000 single-use plastics items to the total.

After swapping out 25 million single-use plastic items for more environmentally-friendly alternatives in the 18 months to January 2022, the private hospital operator committed to doubling that number by the end of the year.

Ramsay has now set its sights on removing a total of 75 million single-use plastic items by the end of December 2023.

Cairns Private Hospital CEO, Ben Tooth, said he was extremely proud of the effort made by his team to contribute to the lofty target being achieved.

“We’re committed to making tangible changes to improve the future of the planet,” Mr Tooth said.

“We started with the most obvious items –switching cutlery, crockery and straws from plastic to reusable or recyclable alternatives.

“We’ve now replaced many more items around the hospital, including in operating theatres, with more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

“While individually each item we swap out is a small change, together they make a big difference,” he said.

Another important initiative has been to replace single-use plastic water bottles with jugs of water and glasses. The project, which began in 2019, saves six million plastic water bottles per year from ending up in landfill - in addition to the 50 million other plastic items.

Sixteen Ramsay Australia hospitals are working to create ‘greener operating theatres’ by removing the anaesthetic gas desflurane, reported to have more than 20 times the global warming potential of alternative gases and instead switching to more environmentally friendly options.

Cairns Private Hospital is currently using less than five per cent desflurane anaesthetic gas.

In 2022, Ramsay Health Care announced its global commitment to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by the year 2040.

Ramsay’s Net Zero strategies include switching to renewable energy sources and maximising energy efficiency, reducing anaesthetic gas emissions, cutting waste and boosting recycling, embedding sustainable design in new facilities and upgrades, as well as engaging with suppliers to reduce supply chain emissions.

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