NYU Commitment and Initiatives for Sustainability and Dental Material Waste

Objectives: This study seeks to investigate unused dental material waste at New York University College of dentistry over the period of one week and sensitized students, staffs, and administrators about waste management along with reviews of NYU initiatives towards green dentistry and reducing carbon footprints.
Methods: The site for the study was a New York University College of Dentistry in New York. The dental material wastes generated during clinical sessions of 14 clinics over a week were collected. The dental material wastes were: gloves, masks, anesthetic cartridges, cotton rolls, injection needles, tissue management kits, mixing bowls, mixing spatulas, impression trays, disposable scalers, proxy brushes, patient bibs, suction tips, flosses, burs, prophylaxis pastes, bitewing tabs, topical anesthesia, gauge pieces, impression materials, plastic cups, different types of waxes includes blue, pink, yellow, red and green, toothpastes. Each item was identified and the amount of waste recorded.
New York University also is committed to continuing taking concrete actions to make sustainability a higher priority within our community and to be a sustainability leader in higher education. Aggressive energy management including lighting controls and equipment allowed NYU to meet its 30% carbon reduction commitment years ahead of schedule. The building of our sophisticated co-generation plant, which went online in 2011, has helped further reduce electrical consumption. We have incorporated sustainability into our building design constructions. In addition, commuting to classes and work at NYU relies more on greener strategies: mass transit, bicycling.

Results: The recorded data showed that the amount of waste generated per clinical session was very high. NYU has started taking action in order to achieve sustainability
Conclusions: With spreading awareness on waste management and green dentistry, we can reduce the amount of waste generated and carbon footprints.