Karim Narsingani MD et al.
Canadian Journal of Anesthesia. 2025 Jul; Published online ahead of print.
In this single-center, resident-led quality improvement project in British Columbia, the authors implemented and scaled a soft plastic recycling initiative across 12 operating rooms (ORs). Initially piloted in one OR with a mean of 194g/day of soft plastic collected, the program expanded to all ORs and achieved an average of 1,524g/day. Eight months post-project, daily recycling remained high at 1,284g, demonstrating sustained impact.
Error tracking showed a manageable increase in mistakes with scale-up—from a median of 0 [0–2] per day in one OR to 2 [1–4] across all ORs—but fell again with sustained education and signage interventions. The program’s success highlights the role anesthesiologists can play in advancing environmental sustainability in the perioperative setting, and how small-scale efforts can drive lasting institutional change.
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