Saving the Planet: How Hospital Curtains are Contributing to Climate Change

There are two main types of hospital curtains: fabric and disposable. Both types of curtains are contributing to climate change to a much greater extent than KwickScreens. Let’s find out why.

Disposable Curtains

Firstly, the word ‘disposable’ should be causing alarm bells to ring in your ears! Hospitals use disposable curtains because their removal and replacement allows for the maintenance of a hygienic environment. In actual fact, due to costs and other operating factors, curtains are not changed frequently enough to achieve this hygienic environment often, however, hospitals are still disposing of a considerable amount of curtains. This is exemplified by the fact that ~235 tonnes of curtains would be disposed of if curtains around all beds in NHS England hospitals were changed just twice a year. This waste increases significantly as curtain changing frequency improves. In other words, as hygiene improves, waste gets significantly worse. A much more hygienic rate of weekly curtain changes will create ~6,106 tonnes of waste from ~6.7 million curtains. Most of these curtains end up being incinerated.

So how much damage do these disposable curtains cause the planet?

If a curtain is disposed of every 4 weeks (the minimal hygiene standard), a 6-bay ward will generate 2125 kg CO₂ each year. This is the equivalent of 13 flights from London to Glasgow, releasing almost 10 times more CO₂ than a KwickScreen Air! By choosing a KwickScreen Air over disposable curtains, 1,906kg of CO₂ emissions will be saved every year. Carbon emissions for KwickScreens are especially low because they can be easily cleaned in situ with just two sanitation wipes.

You think disposable curtains are bad after reading this? Well, just wait until you read about fabric curtains!

Fabric Curtains

Did you know that for a single wash cycle of 13 curtains (max load) in an industrial washing machine, 816 kg of water is used and 343 kg of CO2 is emitted from water usage? In addition, NHS guidelines state that industrial washing needs to reach 71oC for 3-10 minutes. A wash at this temperature requires a large amount of electricity, also contributing to CO2 emissions.

Fabric curtains are not only bad for CO2 emissions, they also damage the planet through the releasing of microscopic plastic fibres. A normal 6 kg load of residential laundry can release 700,000 of these fibres, meaning a 68kg industrial load of curtains could release 9.5 million fibres! These fibres cause water pollution and become embedded in the tissue of marine life, spreading through the food chain. They can also pollute the air, with currently unknown effects on humans. In addition, detergents used in the curtain washing process can also contaminate waterways.

The high CO₂ emissions, water usage, microscopic plastic fibre release and excessive detergent use is avoided by switching from curtains to KwickScreens. Not only this, but KwickScreen’s circular economy model also contributes to its sustainability.

KwickScreen and a Circular Economy

Our circular economy model involves retrieving, repairing and re-using damaged screens. This allows customers to practise carbon-conscious healthcare whilst also gaining long-term cost savings. In fact, by returning one used KwickScreen Pro to the factory for recycling, the energy saved is equivalent to charging 8,260 phones.

KwickScreen also sources 70%+ of our raw materials from within 150 miles, and 95%+ of them are recyclable. Metals such as steel and aluminium make up key components of our screens, however, we’re conscious of the environmental impact of transporting heavy metal over long distances. That’s why we work solely with British suppliers.