Dutch artist Maria Koijck has teamed up with Mölnlycke Health Care to illustrate that up to 90% of packaging waste – a significant amount of it consisting of nonwoven fabrics – can be reduced in surgical procedures.

In 2019 Koijck underwent a full mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis. The waste from her ten-hour breast reconstruction surgery two years later, including post-op care, resulted in an art installation where she challenged the healthcare industry on more sustainable solutions.

“I was shocked when I discovered how much waste a procedure like mine generated,” said Koijck. “I’m happy that my original video got a lot of attention and reactions from the healthcare industry, but for a long time, my question has been unanswered.”

Mölnlycke has now teamed up with her to recreate the artwork with the company’s proprietary ProcedurePak, to fully illustrate the significant reduction in packaging waste that can be achieved.

“This sustainable solution pioneered by Mölnlycke also saves preparation time by up to 40%, making it possible to increase the number of procedures,” said Anders Andersson, EVP of operating room solutions at Mölnlycke. “The Hôpital Privé des Peupliers in Paris, for example, has achieved a 37.5% increase in hip, hand and pacemaker operations after the introduction of Mölnlycke procedure trays in its eight operating rooms.”

Mölnlycke’s ProcedurePak is a pre-sterilised tailored procedure tray containing everything needed for a specific procedure gathered in one package, significantly reducing the packaging waste, as well as surplus items generated by more generic procedure trays.

In addition to reducing packaging waste w up to 90%, ProcedurePaks help facilitate more procedures by reducing surgery preparation time by up to 40%, as well as CO2 emissions by up to 30%.

The evidence supporting these claims has been published in a number or reports and papers.

 www.molnlycke.com