CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte-based manufacturer is making a push to innovate how hospitals generate and dispose of waste.
After roughly three years of creating, testing, and vetting, Terraloam's compostable protective gown, called "BioGown," is about to get real-life use by area health care professionals.
Research suggests health care is the second most wasteful industry (fast food is first), with U.S. hospitals producing 29 pounds of trash per bed per day, and the facilities all together generating 5 million tons of waste per year.
At hospitals like Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, health care providers are tasked with the oath to "do no harm." Pam Setzer, the medical center's distribution manager, said the hospital is now considering how to apply that philosophy to Mother Earth.
"The people of this hospital are awesome," Setzer said. "Whenever I can come across something that would impact their life to better their job every day, that is my mission and my goal. With these gowns, I think that this is what the hospital really needed."
Jonathan Mustich, co-owner of Terraloam, said single-use plastic gowns make up 40% of hospital waste each year and can take hundreds of years to break down in a landfill.
The goal of BioGown is to reduce that timeline to a few months.
"I was out in my backyard, and I saw a droplet of water roll off a broccoli leaf and realized it was impenetrable," Mustich said. "So, I said if nature can do this, why can't we."
BioGown is made of cornstarch and eco-friendly polymers and is approved for "Level 1" and "Level 2" isolation in health care environments and meets FDA approval for food processing facilities, Terraloam's website states.
WCNC Charlotte first reported on the development of the protective gear in 2021. Now, the first gowns are rolling out for widespread use at a medical facility, with Catawba Valley Medical Center set to receive 150,000 this year.
"We are going to reduce their medical waste by 40,000 pounds a year, and take that and turn it into full compost soil," Mustich said.
The destination of that compost soil shows Terraloam's attempts to create a "closed loop system," with the compost helping fuel additional growing of corn (used to make the gown) and nourishment of community gardens in Hickory and Charlotte.
"We're going to work with children and teach them where their food is coming from, and how the cycle of breakdown of a gown can turn into nutrient-rich food," Mustich said. "In our community garden last year in Charlotte, we donated 4,000 pounds of food and impacted 34 different families that were food insecure."
Mustich remains hopeful BioGown has more growth on the horizon with the company's latest award. Hospital processes improvement company Premiere has recognized the group as an innovator of the year, which Mustich hopes will open up exposure to more than 4,000 hospitals under the nationwide Premiere umbrella.
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.