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As concerns grow over how to mitigate the negative environmental impacts associated with the disposal of textiles past their useful life, one area under scrutiny is medical textiles, which includes surgical gowns, scrubs, drapes and orthotics. A significant number of these products fall into the disposable category, used once then discarded—a situation increasingly putting reusable medical textiles in the spotlight.
There are good reasons for this concern. According to Holly Morris, a consultant hand surgeon affiliated with the Pulvertaft Hand Centre in Derby, England, about one-third of all hospital waste is composed of textiles, which are either incinerated or directed to landfills.
“[And] some of the textiles used, such as those in orthotics, are disposed of at home by patients and will ultimately end up in a landfill,” Morris says. “By using reusable medical textiles, we significantly reduce the amount of waste created. This has an impact upon the carbon emissions generated by waste disposal and is also economically advantageous, as it is costly to process contaminated hospital waste.”
Ken Kaiser, senior manager, product regulatory and technical services for Standard Textile, a global manufacturer and provider of reusable textiles headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, agrees. He says the primary advantages of reusable textiles are greater sustainability and cost savings. He explains that 70% of total hospital waste is generated by “procedural areas,” with approximately 20%–33% coming from operating theaters.
Kaiser cites data derived from an analysis conducted by the American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) illustrating the positive effect incorporating more reusable items can have. This research—which compared the differences between single-use disposable and reusable surgical gowns—showed that using reusable gowns resulted in a 64% reduction in energy consumption and a 66% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. Total water consumption (blue water) dropped by 87%, while an 84%–87% reduction in solid waste generation was achieved.
“A reusable program also allows for better supply chain management due to the life of the products,” Kaiser adds. “Consider that a reusable surgical gown that lasts for 75 uses can replace 75 single-use items.”
Making a strong case
A practicing hand and wrist surgeon, Morris actively researches textiles used within the medical field. She explores the role textile-based medical devices play in health care and how they could contribute to a more sustainable health care system.
“COVID drew our attention to the sheer amount of waste of PPE equipment,” Morris says. “Currently there are moves to push reusable drapes and gowns … over the disposable alternatives.”
Standard Textile provides reusable textiles to those in health care, hospitality and education as well as to residential users. The company also offers laundry solutions. Kaiser says the company has been supplying reusable surgical gowns for more than 50 years, “pioneering the first synthetic reusable barrier fabrics for medical gowns and drapes,” a patented technology that eventually evolved into its ComPel® barrier fabrics line.
The ComPel fabric has a “continuous filament synthetic construction” and a “nonporous structure” that repels liquids while allowing moisture vapor to pass through. The gowns are non-linting and breathable and dissipate static, retaining these qualities throughout the product’s life of 75 washes.
Gowns range by protection level. For example, the original ComPel surgical gowns are designed to protect wearers during routine surgical procedures not demanding a high level of protection while the ProMax® surgical gowns—featuring a 100% synthetic trilaminate front and a ComPel MLR fabric yoke— offer maximum protection, such as against blood-borne pathogens.
This fabric technology also is found in the company’s isolation gowns, those worn in nonsurgical settings to prevent infection spread. These garments provide “the required level of 360-degree protection and can be reused as many as 100 times,” Kaiser says.
Making an ever-stronger case for reusable medical textiles is the value the marketplace continues assigning to sustainability, says Jerry Martin, VP of sales and marketing for Prudential Overall Supply®. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., the company offers workwear, safety uniforms, career apparel, casual wear and cleanroom garments, among other services, says Martin, who is also president of the ARTA board of directors.
For the medical market, the company’s “primary call point” is the Environmental Services (EVS) department, supplying microfiber towels and mops, uniforms and scrubs to EVS employees, says Martin.
“Prudential also provides traditional lab coats and splash-resistant coats as well to medical industry customers such as hospitals, medical offices, individuals, doctors etc.,” he says, adding that these products will remain reusable through at least 50 wash cycles, “withstanding the rigor of industrial laundry equipment.”
Mindset change required
One issue affecting acceptance of reusable textiles is the ability to launder them so they can be safely reused, says Morris.
Kaiser agrees this can be challenging for locations lacking industry partners who can launder, sterilize and package reusable packs. Although most industrial laundries can handle the laundering aspect of, for example, surgical linens, they often lack the capacity to manage the other requirements.
“However, setting up a pack room, an area where reusable surgical packs are created, is not a significant investment,” Kaiser says. “In addition, most hospitals have the capacity to steam-sterilize reusable packs.”
Standard Textile’s SurgiTex® team can create bespoke surgical pack processing strategies for customers and laundry providers, he says. Additionally, the team can ensure processes are compliant with applicable standards and can provide the relevant reusable surgical products to meet end-user needs.
However, the biggest challenge Kaiser sees standing in the way of greater adoption of reusable textiles is the mindset that single-use disposables are more convenient.
Disposable surgical gowns and drapes typically come encased in ready-to-use plastic wrappers, he says. But reusable surgical gowns and drapes can mirror this, as they are also available in reusable packaging/surgical wrappers. However, many end users are unaware that reusable products can provide the same type of ready-to-use packaging and experience—and can do so at a lower cost—while offering enhanced comfort, performance and greater sustainability, Kaiser says.
It’s a message he wants people to receive.
“The practice of doffing [removing] a single-use disposable product has become too routine for end users,” Kaiser says. “End users tend to pull off the disposable gown during doffing and toss the gown into a plastic bag that will eventually need to be sterilized and then either be incinerated or dumped into a landfill. Factoring in the additional waste from the disposable packaging, the volume of waste products from one procedure can be significant.”
There is a move within health care to improve sustainability, says Morris, but it’s important to know that product safety and performance aren’t compromised in the process and that, for example, laundered reusable gowns won’t spread infection. “With time, I see a move back to using as many reusable textiles as appropriate,” she says. “[But] we will need to increase and improve laundering facilities and also the way we recycle products at the end of their life such as they are not sent to landfills or incinerated.”
Pamela Mills-Senn is a freelance writer based in Seal Beach, Calif.
SIDEBAR: Supporting reusability and sustainability
Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the American Reusable Textile Association’s (ARTA) mission is making reusable textiles the first choice for consumers, says Jerry Martin, VP of sales and marketing for Prudential Overall Supply (Irvine, Calif.) and president of the ARTA board of directors.
“It supports the three Rs of sustainability: reduce, reuse and recycle,” he says. “And it promotes the three Cs of reusable textiles: comfort, cost and conservation.”
To help members achieve these objectives, Martin says the organization provides:
- Educational events as well as free marketing and sales resources
- Industry research and data on the benefits of reusable textiles
- A forum for exchanging information and best practices, particularly about economic and environmental issues
“[ARTA also] monitors legislative and regulatory initiatives and provides an effective voice to communicate its concerns to legislative and regulatory decision-makers,” says Martin.
For more information on ARTA, its research and its mission, visit arta1.com.
SIDEBAR: Walking the walk
Manufacturers offering reusable textiles also tend to look for ways to make their own processes more sustainable. For example, Standard Textile, a Cincinnati-based provider of reusable textiles, describes itself as “taking a holistic approach to sustainability,” says Melanie Boyle, director of corporate social responsibility.
“We are dedicated to minimizing our environmental footprint through strategic investments in equipment, process improvements, and modifications aimed at reducing water, electricity and natural gas usage,” she says. “Notably, almost 80% of water used in the bleaching process at our Union, S.C., facility is reused.”
To reduce waste, Standard reuses yarn cones, cardboard tubes and pallets, Boyle says, adding that the company also recycles waste fiber and fabric from its facilities, keeping nearly 2 million pounds of waste from landfills annually.
This year’s sustainability efforts are focused on circularity and packaging, Boyle says. The company recently announced the Take-Back Recycling Program for its customers, allowing them to return used linens that then are repurposed or downcycled into other products, such as carpeting or automobile insulation.
The 2022 and 2023 programs involved 35 properties, says Boyle, resulting in the diversion of 11,880 pounds of linens. The 2024 program is available to the company’s hospitality customers with plans to investigate opportunities in other markets.
“We also recently introduced a packaging [carton] solution for our U.S.-made products that eliminates the need for a single-use plastic poly bag,” she says. The company expects to achieve an annual reduction of up to 110,000 pounds of plastic.
Prudential Overall Supply, an Irvine, Calif., manufacturer of reusable textiles, also offers laundry services to customers through its 36-location chain. One of its key sustainability accomplishments, says Jerry Martin, VP of sales and marketing, is achieving the Clean Green Certification from the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA), making it the first major industrial chain worldwide to do so.
This designation signals that the company has met the Clean Green international standard for realizing efficiencies in water and energy conservation as well as utilizing best-management practices for resource reuse, reclamation and recycling.