Veterinary practice
This page shows the environmental impact of the average practice based on the Envirometer graphs and key figures.
Four environmental themes are of near-equal importance: business travel, electricity, commuting and heating (fuel & heat). The environmental impact of hazardous waste is caused by the disposal of hospital waste (e.g. needles, old medication). The environmental impact of commercial waste is caused by the disposal of deceased animals. Veterinarians often live close to work; however, commuting still has a significant environmental impact as nearly all veterinarians drive to work in order to quickly arrive at the scene during an emergency.
Key figures
Environmental aspect | Key figure | Average | Range | Unit |
Electricity | electricity / surface area | 48.4 | 24 – 99.7 | kWh/m2 |
electricity / employee | 2.689 | 528 – 5.188 | kWh/FTE | |
Fuels | fuel / building contents | 3.3 | 1.44 – 10 | m3 gas eq./m3 |
fuel / consultation | 0.67 | 0.20 – 1.42 | m3 gas eq./consultation | |
Water | water / employee | 18.4 | 6.25 – 69.3 | m3/FTE |
water / consultation | 20.9 | 4.52 – 95.2 | liter/consultation | |
Waste | waste/ employee | 1.049 | 73 – 3.129 | kg/FTE |
hazardous waste / consultation | 0.04 | 0.003 – 0.16 | kg/consultation | |
waste separation percentage | 61 | 17.4 – 93.4 | % | |
Transport | commuting / employee | 3.965 | 1.544 – 7.661 | km/FTE |
share PT+biking+walking commuting | 6.1 | 2.44 – 32 | % | |
business transport per employee | 3.675 | 33.3 – 11.765 | km/FTE |
Source of this average Envirometer
The veterinary industry cares about sustainability and wanted to gain insight into the sustainability of the industry as a whole. To identify this, Stimular visited twelve veterinary practices in December 2011. An Envirometer benchmark for veterinary practices was developed on behalf of MSD Animal Health.
The twelve participating veterinary practices had considerable differences in terms of their scope and location: from old buildings to new builds and from energy-efficient techniques to old installations. The practices employ 2 to 18 FTE. The benchmark therefore compares a broad group. The buildings generally have two or more treatment rooms, a waiting area and one or more offices. Several practices were renovated to include an animal shelter, groomer and an area to treat larger animals (e.g. horses).
“This gives me new insights. Bring on those solar panels.”
A participant of the,
Envirometer benchmark for veterinary practices