Hospitals toss hundreds of uniforms weekly after pens and markers end up in the wash

When you constantly carry a pen or a marker with you in your hospital uniform, many ends might end up in the washing together with a uniform. A survey by RTL found that at the Dutch hospitals, hundreds of uniforms end up in the trash every week after they become damaged by pens or markers in the wash.

Laundry company CleanLease described it as a "persistent problem” to RTL. The firm washes uniforms for dozens of hospitals, including UMC Utrecht.

At the start of a shift, doctors and nurses pick up a new uniform and return it at the end of a shift. The laundry uses X-ray equipment to fish out any remaining notepads or needles, but pens and markers usually slip through undetected. According to the sustainability manager at UMC Utrecht, Celina Kroon, that is because a pen, for example, usually contains too little metal to be registered by such a machine.

According to Kroon, circularity remains a major problem in healthcare. Research by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has shown that the healthcare sector accounts for around seven percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Over on LinkedIn, cardiology nurse Nienke Vis appealed to colleagues, “When you wear a white uniform or white coat, always check the pockets of your coat and/or trousers before you turn them in. Small effort, big difference!” Kroon told NOS that she supports the awareness campaign. “May it spread like an ink stain,” she said.