Health Care Actions for Reducing Plastic Use and Pollution

Plastic products pollute the environment and harm human health.1 On July 19, 2024, the US federal government released a government-wide strategy to target plastic pollution throughout the plastics life cycle (PLC; production, processing, use, and disposal).2 The United Nations Global Plastics Treaty calls for international cooperation and comprehensive policies to mitigate plastic pollution. However, none of these initiatives target health care, in which plastics are ubiquitous and overused. Nearly a quarter of the 14 000 tons of waste generated daily by US hospitals is plastic,3 much of it single-use plastics (SUPs) such as syringes, masks, and gloves. These SUPs end up in landfills or infiltrate the environment, contributing to harmful chemicals and microplastics in humans.1 Furthermore, 98% of chemicals in plastics are derived from fossil fuels, and plastics are projected to account for an increasing share of oil and gas consumption. Of global greenhouse gas emissions, plastics production accounts for 3.7%, which is expected to increase.1 With the rationale that health care should lead in protecting health, we propose a comprehensive sociotechnical approach4 spanning the entire PLC to reduce plastic use and pollution in health care.

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