Sustainability in Greater Focus

With more than 90% of European ophthalmic surgeons expressing concern in an ESCRS survey, reducing waste is a high-priority goal, Dr Oliver Findl said at the opening session of the 2023 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) annual meeting in San Diego. The session featured EyeSustain, a coalition of ophthalmic societies around the world, and other efforts to reduce the environmental impact of ophthalmology.

Dr Findl, ESCRS president and an EyeSustain advisory board member, discussed efforts to reduce surgical waste, focusing first on a study of cataract surgical packs in Austria.

“What we saw is a huge variability: sometimes huge drapes, a lot of syringes, and so forth,” he said. “If we reduce that waste to the smallest common denominator, we could reduce the carbon footprint 30%—and that’s without a change in quality.”

To accomplish the reduction, the ESCRS created SIDICS, the sustainability index for disposables in cataract surgery, which will launch at the ESCRS Congress in Vienna, Dr Findl said. In addition to rating the volume of supplies, the index assesses their environmental impact.

“That’s an opportunity for everybody to calculate their own cat pack and compare it to a benchmark. It’s something we are doing right now to get the low-hanging fruit.”

Global effort

Dr Findl then turned to the many ESCRS efforts to make ophthalmology more sustainable. The Society partners with 31 other ophthalmic societies in EyeSustain, based in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It also is a primary supporter of EyeSustain with ASCRS and AAO.

Recognising the strength of its Young Ophthalmology sector, the Society then formed the Young Ophthalmologists’ Sustainability Committee. “Young ophthalmologists are the real drivers, and I think they should be the main drivers,” Dr Findl said.

Mission Zero is yet another ESCRS sustainability initiative. Its goal is to have a congress with zero waste to landfills, and zero net carbon emissions that will be a role model for social responsibility.

The programme launched at the 2022 Milan Congress, “where we tried to reduce waste and red meat, as well as using reusable ESCRS water bottles,” said Dr Findl, noting ASCRS distributed similar reusable containers at the San Diego meeting. The goal for the 2023 Vienna Congress is to be completely carbon neutral in part by offsetting travel emissions, he added.

Industry on board

Dr John A Hovanesian reviewed the industry’s contribution. “The companies who sell us the equipment and supplies we use in surgery are every bit as interested in sustainability as we surgeons and our staffs are,” he said.

EyeSustain, directed by Dr David F Chang, has organised a think tank with leading ophthalmic supply companies to brainstorm ideas and innovations. Among the practices that have emerged is doing away with the lengthy instructions in several languages that used to accompany every piece of equipment. “Now it’s going to become a QR code,” Dr Hovanesian noted. This change alone means smaller packaging, less shipping, and fewer trucks on the road.

Upcoming changes include smaller injectors using less plastic and increased use of biodegradable materials. EyeSustain is working with device manufacturers and other medical specialties to help spread best practices.

Oliver Findl MD, MBA, FEBO is president of the ESCRS, an advisory boar d member of EyeSustain, and professor and chair of ophthalmology at Hanusch Hospital in Vienna, Austria. oliver@findl.at

John A Hovanesian MD is a practicing ophthalmologist in Laguna Hills, California, US, and a faculty member at the Jules Stein Eye Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles. jhovanesian@mdbackline.com