“Small Steps, Big Difference” Plastic Free July and Beyond! 2023
This year’s Plastic Free July challenge, “Small Steps, Big Difference” aligns with everything NewGen Surgical strives for: simple, singular product substitutions that make a BIG impact. We celebrate with our customers and the millions of Plastic Free July participants that are taking steps in beating plastic pollution by refusing single-use plastic in and outside of the operating room.
“Plastic Free July® is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Our movement has inspired 100+ million participants in 190 countries. You making a small change will collectively make a massive difference to our communities. You can choose to refuse single-use plastics in July (and beyond!). Best of all, being part of Plastic Free July will help you to find great alternatives that can become new habits forever.”1
NewGen Surgical products are designed for the circular economy. Using Smart Sustainable Design™, front-end inputs using waste from one industry are upcycled into a clinical product for the Operating Room and healthcare.
When it comes to plastic, there is no “away” that comes with it. Every piece of plastic infiltrates our natural environments for up to 500 years, leeching toxins into our airways, waterways, soil, and oceans. Thankfully, there are sustainable alternatives to replace almost every plastic product imaginable.
The mission of the Plastic Free Foundation is guided and informed by core values that are so closely aligned with our founding mission at NewGen Surgical:
• Honesty and integrity
• Inclusivity of people, ideas, visions and approaches
• A focus on providing solutions
• Authenticity and collaboration
• The belief that small changes add up to a big difference
As well as addressing UN Sustainable Development Goal 12, responsible production and consumption.
Replacing one plastic product in one healthcare system with an upcycled, bio-based alternative leads to a significant cumulative impact – year after year. Using our Small Change, Big Impact EPP Calculator, a powerful tool that tracks and reports single-use plastic waste and CO2e reduced with NewGen Surgical products, we found that with a leading healthcare system switching their procedure kit packaging trays to NewGen Surgical trays, this conversion yields an annual reduction in single-use plastic of 13,735 kg and a reduction of 8,462 kg of CO2e. Accumulated over five years, this results in a reduction of single-use plastic of 68,675 kg and 42,310 kg of CO2e. In ten years, this healthcare system would have reduced 137,350 kg of single-use plastic and 84,620 with a single product substitution alone.
Upcycling results in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions – and reduces plastic production and disposal. This unique alternative resource we utilize can biodegrade2, minimizing the environmental and human health impacts throughout the product’s lifecycle. Plastic Free July 2023 has been the greatest success yet. Last July, NewGen Surgical customers achieved a 4.4-ton reduction in single-use plastic, FOUR TIMES the amount reduced than the previous year. This year, our customers have charted nearly EIGHT tons of single-use plastic reduced, nearly doubling last year’s reduction.
NewGen Surgical is honored to be a part of this annual collaboration in single-use plastic reduction to inspire individuals and healthcare systems to end plastic use in and outside of the O.R. as we aim to achieve larger plastic reduction goals each year. Millions of people across the globe take part every year in Plastic Free July, with many committing to reducing plastic pollution far beyond the month of July. This challenge serves as a reminder that we should all aim to eliminate plastic and set plastic reduction goals every day of the year.