Team Members

• Crystal Gong, MSc MD (she/her) — Pediatrics Resident (PGY-2), Dalhousie University

• Ty Bryant — Planetary Health & Sustainability Lead, IWK

• Tejasvi Davne — Lead, IWK Waste Management

• Mary Lynn Van Tassel — Executive Lead of Health System Sustainability, IWK

Project Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 63,000 tonnes of plastic PPE entered Canadian landfills. Building on the work of Vitacore, the IWK PPE Recycling Project aims to pilot a PPE recycling program at IWK Health Centre. The initiative will divert single-use PPE such as masks and respirators from landfills and reprocess them into secondary materials, including construction products. The team is also collaborating with Infection Prevention and Control to identify opportunities to safely reduce unnecessary single-use PPE while maintaining the highest standards of patient care, with the long-term goal of expanding sustainable practices across healthcare facilities in the Halifax Regional Municipality.