Each year, the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign works toward the ongoing goal of maintaining global awareness about the role of hand hygiene in healthcare, while also encouraging collective action to improve hand hygiene practices around the world (World Health Organization, 2022). This year’s World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) objectives include promoting the correct technique and timing for hand hygiene according to WHO’s 5 Moments, and appropriate glove use within healthcare workflows. Another aim is to advocate for integrating hand hygiene into national infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) at the facility level, following the guidance of the WHO global action plan and monitoring framework for 2024–2030. Additionally, the campaign seeks to highlight the environmental and climate-related impacts of glove use, particularly the waste generated by unnecessary usage (World Hand Hygiene Day 2025, 2025).
As a specialist in hand hygiene solutions, OPHARDT Hygiene actively contributes to WHO’s efforts by promoting and sharing WHO guidelines and research related to hand hygiene. OPHARDT has played a role in increasing awareness of hand hygiene best practices by circulating findings from WHO’s comprehensive studies on the subject, including the largest global study of hand hygiene in healthcare. Furthermore, OPHARDT supports WHO-led initiatives by participating in international events like World Hand Hygiene Day, aligning its mission with global efforts to underscore the importance of clean hands in healthcare.
The Paradox of Hospitals
Modern healthcare systems face an unfortunate paradox: while they are designed to save lives, they also contribute significantly to a growing humanitarian and environmental crisis.
WHO has drawn attention to the environmental consequences of excessive glove use, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when PPE waste surged to 591 tonnes per day—gloves being the most significant contributor (World Health Organization, 2022).
Medical waste is increasingly recognised as a contributor to climate change. A 2020 Australian review of healthcare services estimated that the sector is responsible for approximately 1% to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A major factor in this environmental burden is the unnecessary or excessive use of disposable products. One prominent example is the overuse of single-use PPE, especially non-sterile gloves, which are frequently discarded even when not strictly necessary (Jeffries et al., 2023).
The environmental footprint of non-sterile nitrile gloves is substantial: a single glove weighing 3 grams is associated with roughly 26 grams of CO2 emissions, accounting for the entire product lifecycle—from material extraction and manufacturing to transportation and disposal. In comparison, 20 seconds of handwashing generates around 9 grams of CO2e, and using 3 ml of alcohol-based hand sanitiser produces just 0.9 grams of CO2e per use (Jeffries et al., 2023).
OPHARDT promotes alcohol-based hand sanitiser use as a more sustainable alternative to glove use where appropriate. Our dispensers are durable, reusable, and recyclable, supporting the principles of circular design. We support healthcare systems in reducing unnecessary PPE use without compromising infection prevention.
The Power of Sanitiser
Sanitiser has been shown to offer significantly lower environmental impact compared to personal protective equipment (PPE), especially in situations where PPE-like non-sterile gloves – is not essential. (Jeffries et al., 2023).
In terms of effectiveness, hand sanitiser has also demonstrated superior performance to soap and water, with reductions in Escherichia coli and faecal streptococci on hands. Notably, contamination of hands can occur whether or not gloves are worn, as non-sterile gloves are susceptible to becoming contaminated by environmental bacteria, skin microbes, and airborne pathogens once exposed to air. As a result, after washing hands, the surface may carry fewer contaminants than a pair of non-sterile gloves, depending on the situation. In many non-invasive procedures, using hand sanitiser both before and after the task may offer greater protection for healthcare workers and patients alike. When a medical procedure poses no risk of exposure due to the inability of pathogens to penetrate intact skin, and the body’s natural barriers are sufficient for protection, hand sanitisation can be a more appropriate and ethically sound alternative to glove use (Jeffries et al., 2023).
For World Hand Hygiene Day 2025, there is a strong emphasis on improving both awareness around glove use and compliance with effective hand hygiene practices. OPHARDT’s dispensers are built to support hand hygiene exactly when and where it’s most needed—at the point of care. Features like touch-free activation, controlled dosing, and visual feedback systems are all designed to promote proper hand hygiene technique and encourage consistent use.
Reducing Waste In Modern Systems
Gloves are the most widely used single-use item in healthcare, and their demand is expected to nearly double within the next five years. Reducing unnecessary glove use is important for cutting down on healthcare-related waste and greenhouse gas emissions (Lalakea et al., 2025). A U.S.-based study focused on decreasing the overuse of non-sterile gloves in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Plastic Surgery/Burn Clinics at a teaching hospital. The team implemented an educational intervention centred on proper hand hygiene and appropriate glove use. Initially, the clinics used about 14,820 gloves per month—averaging 10.8 gloves per patient visit. Following the intervention, usage dropped to 10,100 gloves monthly, or 7.9 per visit, marking a 27% decrease. Over a year, this reduction translates to 56,628 fewer gloves used, 180 kg less waste generated, and cost savings of $3,003.17. The estimated cut in carbon emissions ranges from 1,472 to 1,767 kg CO₂e per year—comparable to driving a standard gasoline car for 3,766 to 4,519 miles. Widespread adoption would provide a significant positive impact given the scale of glove use in US health care settings (Lalakea et al., 2025).
Additionally, a 2018 campaign in the United Kingdom (UK), “The gloves are off,” decreased glove use by 18% with no increase in health care-associated infections (HAIs) (NHS England, 2018).
These studies demonstrate the potential of evidence-based educational interventions on hand hygiene and appropriate glove use to reduce waste in healthcare systems.
Al though the experiments above were based in the US and UK, they would likely be successful in reducing glove use across several other countries in North America and Western Europe.
References
Jeffries, S. D., Tu, Z., Xu, H., Harutyunyan, R., & Hemmerling, T. M. (2023). Use of hand sanitiser as a potential substitution for nonsterile gloves in reducing carbon emissions. BJA: British Journal of Anaesthesia, 131(1), e22–e25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2023.03.029
Lalakea, M. L., Noel, J. E., & Meiklejohn, D. A. (2025). Reducing Glove Overuse in Outpatient Specialty Clinics: Cost Reduction and Environmental Benefit. OTO Open, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/oto2.70103
NHS England. (2018, November 2). NHS England» “The gloves are off” campaign. England.nhs.uk. https://www.england.nhs.uk/atlas_case_study/the-gloves-are-off-campaign/
World Health Organization. (2022). SAVE LIVES – Clean Your Hands Campaign. Www.who.int. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day
World Hand Hygiene Day 2025. (2025). Who.int. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day/2025
World Health Organization. (2022, February 1). Tonnes of COVID-19 Health Care Waste Expose Urgent Need to Improve Waste Management Systems. Www.who.int. https://www.who.int/news/item/01-02-2022-tonnes-of-covid-19-health-care-waste-expose-urgent-need-to-improve-waste-management-systems