Creating a Gentler Footprint—Biodegradable Basins for Cataract Surgery
Dr. Naveen Chandra holds the plant-based, biodegradable surgical basin he developed to replace single-use plastic basins. [Photo courtesy Kaiser Permanente]
Naveen Chandra, MD, an ophthalmologist with Kaiser Permanente since 2001, began work on a project that switched the plastic basins used to hold liquids during cataract surgeries with plant-based, biodegradable basins.
“Cataract surgery is one of the most common, safe, and effective surgeries in the world,” said Dr. Chandra. “We have two eyes, and as we age, chances are we will develop cataracts that can be taken care of with surgery. Like wrinkles and gray hair, if we live long enough, we get cataracts.” Researchers estimate that each year, surgeons perform more than three million cataract surgeries in the United States, and 20 million around the world.
“In surgery, we use a number of items that come in our surgical pack,” said Dr. Chandra. “Included with highly specific instruments are single-use plastic basins that cannot be reused and must be disposed of. We know that greenhouse gases are emitted in the production of plastics, and we know that plastics are collecting in our landfills. For decades, Kaiser Permanente has been a leader in the push for a lighter footprint on our earth by the medical community, and we’ve adhered faithfully to environmental standards for supplies and products to eliminate chemicals of concern, reduce waste, and increase recycling. So, to work on eliminating this form of waste was a natural for us.”
“As we age, chances are we will develop cataracts that can be taken care of with surgery,” said Dr. Chandra.
For two years, Dr. Chandra worked with a vendor who uses sugarcane pulp instead of plastic to produce surgical basins. Dr. Chandra wanted to ensure that the plant-based basins would not cause challenges to cataract surgery when pivoting from plastic to plant-based basins. His focus and mandate to the vendor was specifically for the eye surgery space.
“We made sure the plant-based basin would hold up for the length of the entire surgery, and not shed plant fibers,” said Dr. Chandra. That meant coating the inside with a biodegradable waterproof layer, and coating the outside edge of the basin with a different biodegradable waterproof layer, which had not been done before with previous plastic-alternative basins. The plant-based basins can hold liquids for eight hours without getting soggy. Additionally, Dr. Chandra worked with the manufacturer to develop a way to polish the edges of the basin, all around the rim, to prevent loose, stray fibers.
Dr. Chandra was able to make the switch cost-neutral, and in 2022, all 21 Northern California Kaiser Permanente cataract surgery sites, including Kaiser Permanente Park Shadelands Medical Offices, switched to the new biodegradable basins.
This move is particularly significant given the volume of cataract surgeries performed annually at Kaiser Permanente Northern California: 50,000 surgeries per year, using three basins per surgery. The switch has resulted in an estimated annual reduction of 32 metric tons of supply chain CO2 emissions over two years (the equivalent of not driving a gasoline-powered car 81,000 miles), and kept a potential 300,000 plastic basins (seven tons of plastic waste) out of landfills. Now, Dr. Chandra is working to spread the use of plant-based basins to other healthcare providers.
EyeSustain is a national organization whose mission is to make healthcare delivery and services in ophthalmology more sustainable, both economically and environmentally. This group has given Dr. Chandra a platform to spread the word to other ophthalmologists about the benefits of plant-based, biodegradable surgical basins and making them available to like-minded healthcare institutions.
“We’re spreading the word about the product to our peers inside and outside Kaiser Permanente,” Dr. Chandra said. “As an industry, we know the impact we’re making on our planet, and given our volume of scale, everything we do helps in big and significant ways.”
For more information about the plant-based basin and how to implement it into practices and surgeries, call 925.906.2550.
