Application of Reverse Logistics in Hospital Material Processes: Case Study

One of the major current concerns of society is the environmental issue, precisely because this is a prerogative of great importance for the populations in terms of quality of life. International organizations have sought to develop symposiums, seminars, and global meetings that involve discussions on environmental issues. Since the 1992 ECO-Rio-92 world summit, Brazil has sought to develop a normative framework to foster mechanisms of environmental policies, an element that is already part of the 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Thus, this article addresses the Reverse Logistics of Health Services Waste in a public hospital in the city of Manaus-Amazonas, with the general objective of analyzing the reverse logistics process in the recycling of medicine and hospital material in a public hospital in the city of Manaus – Getúlio Vargas University Hospital (HUGV) based on the formation of an inventory of environmental/hospital interests, as well as specifically identifying the main characteristics of reverse logistics; verifying if there is flexibility in the application of the reverse logistics process in the recycling of medicines and hospital material; demonstrating a proposal for the application of reverse logistics to reduce the environmental impact caused by solid waste; understanding how the reverse logistics process can contribute to softening the impact of the environmental degradation caused by the incorrect disposal of medicine and hospital material in a public hospital in Manaus; and, demonstrating its environmental benefits to the city of Manaus. The methodology used included integrative review research, as well as documentary research and direct observation. It is concluded that reverse logistics is a way of obtaining environmental management within the legal parameters determined by the Brazilian legal system but cannot be applied in its entirety in the public hospitals of Manaus, which can make nosocomial disposal dangerous.