The neurophysiology department, under the neurology department at Bispebjerg Frederiksberg Hospital, conducts treatments with botulinum toxin. However, the department is interested in defining the sustainability of these treatments, regarding the use of resources. The section is an outpatient clinic (ambulatory care clinic) conducting ca. 120 treatments per week. Most materials, syringes, needles, etc. are completely essential, and therefore present a need for sorting the waste.

The patients have to sit and sometimes lie on an examination bed/couch. It is in the interest of the department to find the most ecologically sustainable way to ensure that the patients lie comfortably and that the bed is clean and hygienic when they sit/lie in the bed.

The question is, however: what is best for the climate? – to change the sheets every time or to use a large paper towel to cover and then dry the bed. Intuition may suggest, that using paper towels is the more sustainable solution, but the clinic lacks the data necessary to prove this.

The challenge can be summed up as follows:

What is the carbon footprint of using linen sheets versus using paper towels on the examination bed in an outpatient clinic?

What is the cost of using linen sheets, and furthermore: what is the cost of washing, drying, and transporting them to the ward and back to the laundry facilities, from a climate perspective?

What is the cost of using paper towels on examination beds? What carbon footprint can be associated with the production and transport of the paper towels? And what is the cost of also having to use alcohol wipes on the bed afterward and the disposal of both?