Students’ shock at level of waste generated in treatment of diabetes

One issue to which little attention is given at present is the amount of waste generated in healthcare treatment settings, which can be surprisingly high. A study by students from St Finian’s College on the amount of waste generated in the treatment of Ireland’s 300,000 patients with diabetes has revealed that a large amount of the medication prescribed between 2018 and 2023, particularly involving the use of pens, vials and cartridges, leads to tons of waste and that largely, patients are not aware of how to dispose of that waste properly.

Surprisingly, a high proportion of doctors were also unsure how the disposable plastics and the general waste associated with diabetes care should be disposed of.

Hazel O’Grady, John Tully and Grace McCann, under the direction of teacher Martina Roache, are the trio behind ‘Plastic not so fantastic – Sustainability in Diabetes Management’, which investigated the impact on the environment of the single-use plastics used in diabetes management and proposed solutions to reduce that impact.