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Responsible waste management: using resources efficiently (Part 2)

British Dental Journal volume 235, pages 577–582 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

This chapter aims to describe the types of waste produced in dental practice, the costs associated with disposal of this waste, and the impact that the disposal method has on the environment and on human health. It discusses the waste hierarchy and explores how dental surgeries can reduce their waste generation through simple changes in practice. The chapter continues by highlighting the benefits of performing a waste audit, with examples of how correct segregation of the waste produced in practice is both cost-effective and reduces the environmental impact of its disposal. Finally, we discuss some of the barriers and enablers of changing waste disposal behaviours in the dental practice and identify how the environmentally minded practitioner can encourage pro-environmental behaviour in their dental team.

Key points

  • Highlights legal requirements, environmental and safety reasons to segregate waste appropriately.

  • Describes how incorrectly separated waste sent to landfill can be expensive and often contains items that should be allocated to recyclable waste.

  • Shows the environmental and human health impacts of processing 1,000 kg of various dental waste streams.

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Acknowledgements

The BDJ Editorial Team would like to thank the authors of this chapter for granting us permission to republish their chapter within our journal. This chapter was first originally published in B. Duane (ed), Sustainable Dentistry, BDJ Clinician's Guides, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07999-3_10 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK

    Sheryl Wilmott

  2. Independent Consultant, Amersham, UK

    Eleni Pasdeki-Clewer

  3. Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

    Brett Duane

Authors
  1. Sheryl Wilmott
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  2. Eleni Pasdeki-Clewer
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  3. Brett Duane
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Correspondence to Sheryl Wilmott.

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Wilmott, S., Pasdeki-Clewer, E. & Duane, B. Responsible waste management: using resources efficiently (Part 2). Br Dent J 235, 577–582 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6322-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6322-7

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