<p>Robotic surgery has emerged in the last years as an advantageous method for many abdominal procedures. Its environmental collateral effects have not been fully considered yet. The aim of our study was to compare the environmental and economic impact of waste disposal during a single procedure in General Surgery performed with different surgical approaches. We performed a prospective study of waste produced from common general surgery procedures. The procedures considered were repair of umbilical hernia with intraperitoneal mesh, and left hemicolectomy for colon cancer. The research and comparison were conducted for three surgical modalities: traditional laparotomy, conventional laparoscopy, and robotically assisted laparoscopy. We computed the amount of clinical, general and recyclable waste produced for each kind of procedure and analyzed the economic and environmental impact. Then we compared the results obtained for all the procedures included. We identified an increased environmental impact related to waste disposal in robotic over open approach for both examined procedures. When comparing laparoscopic and robotic approaches, our results showed a less marked difference in terms of the total amount of waste produced. The total disposal costs per procedure are similar between laparoscopy and robotic, while they are higher in robotic compared to open. This trend is similar analyzing CO₂ production, with a small difference between laparoscopy and robotic, and a more evident difference between open and robotic. Although advancing medical technologies often means better outcomes, current robotic procedures cost more, utilize more resources, and produce more waste. More research should be done to make the healthcare industry a more sustainable system, without compromising safety and efficacy of the newest technologies.</p>