title: [Waste prevention and recovery of valuable raw materials in the hospital].
abstract: Quite a number of the diseases with which Public Health services are concerned are due to environmental factors. It is our aim that especially the Public Health staff should tackle with efficiency and dispatch all the problems connected with damage caused by such factors. Environmental protection is in fact Medical Science. The volume of the waste deposits has been exhausted to the full. Burning of refuse is not the proper alternative: natural science tells us that it is definitely no solution of the problem. The best kind of waste is not to waste anything, i.e. waste that does not arise at all. The belief that disposable or throwaway goods improve hygiene, is totally erroneous and a misconception. All persons engaged in Public Health must unanimously demand from industry the production of high-quality, well sterilisable and easy-to-clean package items for repeated use. Active environmental protection motivates the staff and enhances the reputation of their work.
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik am Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Straubing.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zahn
mesh_terms: D004209:Disposable Equipment; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
vernacular_title: Abfallvermeiden und Wertstoffsammeln im Krankenhaus.