PRACTICE Surface disinfectant wipes New product variants with sustainable wipe material The switch to cellulose-based, pre-soaked disinfectant wipes offers numerous advantages: Pre-soaked disinfectant wipes in flow pack packaging are ready to use, saving valuable time in everyday clinical practice. Above all, however, the use of cellulose-based fibre materials benefits the environment. Not only does it save enormous amounts of plastic, thereby reducing the amount of plastic waste and microplastics, it also lowers the CO2 footprint of the disinfection and hygiene measures necessary in everyday nursing and clinical practice: In 2022 – when disinfection wipes in medical facilities were still almost exclusively based on plastic wipe fibres – this alone resulted in approximately 1,800 tonnes of waste in German hospitals. Good ideas spread: the well-known Bacillol® 30 Sensitive Tissues, in the 24-pack flow pack that is popular with many users are now available in a ‘green‘ cellulose-based version. HARTMANN is once again expanding its range of sustainable surface disinfection products for professional use. Cellulose-based disinfectant wipes offer a clear environmental advantage. Microplastics from plastic wipes remain in the environment and can even end up in organisms. Microparticles from cellulose fibres, on the other hand, do not accumulate. Cellulose also causes significantly fewer toxic emissions than petroleum-based plastics when incinerated, making cellulose-based wipes a noticeable contribution to reducing environmental pollution from harmful substances. Advantageous material properties The product properties of the new fibres also offer practical advantages: in cellulose-based wipe fibres the disinfectant liquid (the impregnation) is distributed more evenly throughout the stacks of wipes in the flow packs: the surface coverage and disinfection efficacy is therefore more similar from the first (top) to the last (bottom) wipe. Another advantage is the tear resistance that high-quality cellulose-based fibres can achieve: the Lyocell fibres used by HARTMANN are similarly tear-resistant to PET fibres. They can therefore be used on rough or textured surfaces such as patient beds without fraying and leaving behind small fibre residues. 1,800 tonnes of waste based on plastic wipe fibres 2022: 6
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