Table 1.
Comparison of SSC and RSC 12-month GHG-related data in 40 trusts (SSC adjusted for 9.2% workload increase over the study period)
| SSC | RSC | |
| Containers manufactured | 1 748 851 | 85 059 (+52 466 SSC)* |
| Weight polymer required (tonnes) | 928.7 | 223.6 |
| Containers incinerated | 1 748 851† | 52 466‡ (−97.0%) |
| Weight plastic incinerated (tonnes) | 928.7 | 27.9§ (−97.0%) |
| Weight cardboard boxes (tonnes) | 136.6 | 4.1¶ (−97.0%) |
| Container exchanges | 1 748 851 | 681 037†† (−61.1%) |
| MTCO2e GWP** | 3896.4 | 628.9 (−83.9%) |
| kg CO2e/1000 fill line litres | 313.0 | 50.7 (−83.8%) |
| kg CO2e/1000 patient activity episodes | 124.0 | 20.0 (−83.9%) |
Container exchanges indicates replacement of full SSC with new SSC or replacement of full RSC with processed clean RSC.
*84 786 RSC manufactured in year 1 only, +273 replacement RSC (allowing for recycling credits), plus 52 466 SSC retained.
†All SSC incinerated.
‡Only SSC incinerated. No RSC incinerated—all parts either reused or recycled.
§Tonnes of SSC incinerated (52 466 SSC used during RSC year)
¶SSC packaging used in RSC study-year.
**Emissions of GHG expressed in terms of GWPs, defined as the radiative forcing impact of one mass-based unit (kg) of a given GHG relative to an equivalent unit of carbon dioxide over a given period of time (100 years).30
††RSCs were larger in fill line capacity than SSC (19.1 L vs 7.1 L) and were exchanged less often than SSC.
GHG, greenhouse gas; GWP, global warming potential; MTCO2e, metric tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent; NHS, National health Service; RSC, reusable sharps container; SSC, single-use sharps container.