--- title: Healthcare Industry Waste Estimates Are Off By Billions description: Z5 disagrees with the calculations of industrywide waste. Our data says that waste is woefully underestimated.  image: https://www.z5inventory.com/hubfs/Blog%20Header%20-%20low%20estimates.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/healthcare-industry-waste-estimates-are-off-by-billions#main-content) [![Group 1211](https://www.z5inventory.com/hubfs/Group%201211.png)](https://www.z5inventory.com) - [Solutions](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions) - [Z5 Count](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0-1) - [Z5 Fixed Asset](https://www.z5inventory.com/solution/fixedassetcount) - [Z5 Analytics](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0) - [Z5 Optimization](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0-0) - [Who We Serve](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2022) - Company - [About Us](https://www.z5inventory.com/contact-2021) - [Contact Us](https://www.z5inventory.com/contact) - [Careers](https://www.z5inventory.com/careers) - [Blog](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog) - [Login](https://prod.z5development.com/) # Healthcare Industry Waste Estimates Are Off By Billions [Alex Diamond](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/author/alex-diamond) 5/18/2021 ![Garbage bags on an orange background.](https://www.z5inventory.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20Header%20-%20low%20estimates.jpg?width=1200&name=Blog%20Header%20-%20low%20estimates.jpg) Industry estimates put the amount of perfectly good medical product wasted every year [around $15 Million](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/2-million-pounds-the-annual-weight-of-unused-hospital-supplies-five-to-save). We think they're wrong by about $4.85 Billion. A few brave souls have tried to sift through mountains of data - to say nothing of the garbage itself - in order to gain an accurate view of how many medical supplies go to waste every year. We've tried ourselves. That's why we know that it's not easy.  One of the biggest impediments to gaining an accurate estimate of the amount of waste hospitals produce in 2021 is that the most recent studies are from [studies conducted in 2013](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00268-014-2834-2). And, as a journalist found out while [researching the topic in 2010](https://slate.com/technology/2010/10/how-much-trash-do-hospitals-produce.html), many of the data points available were [gathered as far back as the 1990s](https://slate.com/technology/2010/10/how-much-trash-do-hospitals-produce.html).  We know that the total number of hospitals decreased from over [6500 to around 6100](https://www.statista.com/topics/1074/hospitals/#dossierSummary) at the time of those studies. We also know that the number has further dipped to [around 5100 in 2021](https://www.aha.org/statistics/fast-facts-us-hospitals). But knowing how much the total number of hospitals - and hospital beds - has decreased doesn't necessarily give us an accurate estimate of how much the total amount of waste has changed. Would you estimate that it's gone down?  We wouldn't. We also disagree with the calculations of industrywide waste. Z5 Inventory's data says that waste is woefully underestimated.  [![See How Z5 Saved $16 Million From Expiration](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2614227/ea12faa6-0801-4ace-a1d7-08e093030078.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2614227/ea12faa6-0801-4ace-a1d7-08e093030078) Most of these studies and observations are taken from the perspective of a patient - either for a hospital stay or an outpatient procedure - which gives you a good idea of how many supplies go to each bed, but it fails to show you how much is being thrown away behind the scenes.  Because, between patients, the clinical and supply chain staff who are pulling product and refilling shelves are throwing a decent amount of that product away. That product has expired and isn't any good to the provider or patient anymore.  Z5's thousands of analyses on hundreds of hospital inventories revealed that as much as [30% of every hospital's on-hand inventory](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/watch-how-steward-hospitals-saved-16-million) is bound straight for the trash. It will expire before it can be used and be thrown away.  But, unlike the doomsayers who report the trouble without suggesting any solutions, we have experience solving the problem.  As one example, we determined that Steward Health Care hospitals had over $25 Million worth of supplies that were headed for the landfill. And we were able to help those hospitals prevent the expiration of [more than $16 Million](https://www.z5inventory.com/reallocate-one-pager-download-request) worth of those supplies. Because, in the case of excess inventory, one hospital's trash is very literally another's treasure.  Let us show you how.  [![Try The New Z5 For Free](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2614227/16f9a56d-9961-46ea-bd1c-1d509c64adf6.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2614227/16f9a56d-9961-46ea-bd1c-1d509c64adf6)   [selling medical supplies](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/selling-medical-supplies) [reallocation](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/reallocation) [inventory management software](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/inventory-management-software) [excess inventory](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/excess-inventory) [healthcare inventory](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/healthcare-inventory) [buying medical inventory](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/buying-medical-inventory) [waste reduction](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/waste-reduction) [hospital supply chain](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/hospital-supply-chain) [donations](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/donations) [case study](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/case-study) [management of hospital inventory](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/topic/management-of-hospital-inventory) ## Leave a Comment ## Related Posts ### [4/27/2021 2 Million Pounds: The Annual Weight of Unused Hospital Supplies | Five To Save](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/2-million-pounds-the-annual-weight-of-unused-hospital-supplies-five-to-save) ### [3/15/2022 Sustainable Healthcare Starts In The Supply Chain | Five To Save](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/sustainable-healthcare-starts-in-the-supply-chain-five-to-save) ### [10/1/2018 Why Does Healthcare Cost So Much?](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog/why-does-healthcare-cost-so-much) ![Group 1212](https://www.z5inventory.com/hubfs/Group%201212.png) Z5 Inventory was founded with the purpose of saving health care providers nationwide from expiring product, empowering them to Count, Reallocate, and Buy their inventory all in one place. - [Solutions](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions) - [Z5 Count](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0-1) - [Z5 Analytics](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0) - [Z5 Optimization](https://www.z5inventory.com/solutions-2021-0-0) - Company - [About Us](https://www.z5inventory.com/contact-2021) - [Contact Us](https://www.z5inventory.com/contact) - [Careers](https://www.z5inventory.com/careers) - [Blog](https://www.z5inventory.com/blog) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.z5inventory.com/privacy-policy) - [Get The App](https://www.z5inventory.com/platform) - [Apple App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/z5-count/id1557711721) - [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.z5inventory&gl=US) - [Dashboard Login](https://prod.z5development.com/) © 2026 All rights reserved. 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