Reducing Waste From Cataract Surgery: Regulatory Hurdles Faced In Belgium

To describe how the working group for sustainability in eye care in Belgium has been trying to encourage waste reduction in cataract surgery and the regulatory hurdles faced in this endeavour.

Public hospitals and private day care surgery centres in Belgium.

Descriptive report of the hurdles faced trying to implement some of the recommendations of the Eye Sustain movement.

Implementing recycling of plastics and paper in operating theatres is relatively simple and cost-effective but has its limitations with regard to "contaminated" material. Trying to implement a reduction in single-use drops/medications and single use instruments/cataract packs is more problematic due to regulatory hurdles and contractual obligations made in the past. Introducing sustainable practices in private day care surgery centres is relatively straightforward and can be done relatively quickly compared to the public hospital setting.

While there is a ample evidence showing that cataract surgery can safely move to more sustainable practices, and there is a growing push from ophthalmologists to do so, there remain many hurdles in the way. Local and federal regulations in Belgium, and presumably in many other countries, can potentially retard or limit efforts to change to a more sustainable method of cataract surgery.