Considering the Environmental Impact of Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery.

Objective: We sought to calculate the waste generated by cleft lip and palate (CL/P) procedures and to increase awareness of the environmental impact of our speciality.

Design: Waste from 5 CL/P procedures was categorised into 5 streams and weighed. A carbon calculator tool was used to convert weight of waste in to estimated carbon emission over a 12-month period.

Setting: The study was carried out in a university teaching hospital.

Patients And Participants: This was an assessment of the waste produced from 5 paediatric CL/P procedures.

Main Outcome Measures: Weight of waste produced as result of CL/P procedures, measured in kilograms (kg); weight of CO, measured in kg.

Results: We found that 768.5 kg of surgical waste was generated by CL/P procedures at our centre annually. This equates to 2653 kg of CO.

Conclusions: This study serves as a reminder of surgeons' responsibility to oversee how the waste we produce is disposed of.