Beyond the tray: analyzing hospital plate waste for economic and environmental sustainability

Abstract

Introduction: Hospital food services generate significant amounts of plate waste daily; thus, hospital waste has gained much attention in previous years. Aim: This study aims to determine the magnitude of plate waste in Lebanese hospitals and highlight its economic and environmental repercussions. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2023 and September 2023 and involved 155 inpatients from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, obstetrics-gynecology (OBGYN), and surgical wards of 16 hospitals across the Lebanese governorates. For each patient, sociodemographic and medical characteristics were collected through a questionnaire. Plate waste % was calculated by collecting the waste at each meal after collecting the trays from the patients’ rooms to the kitchen, either through weighing or by visual estimation. To calculate the economic implication, the amount of each ingredient of the wasted food in grams was multiplied by its corresponding price, expressed as USD per hospital bed per day. For the environmental implication, the water footprint, the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted, and the amount of nitrogen lost to the environment were calculated. Results: The plate waste represented 31.4% of the amount served, equating to an annual waste volume of 366 tonnes in the participating hospitals. The mean waste cost was USD 1.04 per hospital bed per day. On average, waste from a hospital bed per day resulted in the emission of 0.85 kg CO2-eq, the loss of 580.25 liters of fresh water, and 3.08 g of nitrogen to the environment. Conclusion: Lebanese hospitals should take pivotal steps to reduce and manage plate waste and eventually alleviate its adverse impacts on the country’s fragile economic system and scarce environmental resources.