Global sustainability consultancies Systemiq and Eunomia have released a report stating that the healthcare sector’s dependence on single-use plastics is increasing costs, waste, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with healthcare in Europe generating over 900,000 tonnes of single-use plastics in 2023, 5 million tonnes of CO2e emissions and costing €23 billion.
Titled ‘A Prescription for Change: Rethinking plastics use in healthcare to reduce waste, greenhouse gas emissions and costs’, the report quantifies the environmental and financial impacts of single-use plastics across seven high-volume product categories: gloves, fluid bags and tubing, rigid devices, rigid device packaging, PPE, wipes, and pharmaceutical packaging. The report was produced by Systemiq and Eunomia in consultation with an independent panel of clinicians, hospital sustainability leaders, industry representatives, and academics from Europe and North America.
The report recommends five strategies that European hospitals and suppliers can scale: refuse and reduce unnecessary use (such as overuse of gloves); reuse safe, durable alternatives such as gowns, trays, and masks; substitute with paper-based or compostable materials where safe; improve recycling through better design and segregation; and procure low-GHG emissions plastics from biobased or Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)-derived sources.
According to the report, if scaled across the system, by 2040 these interventions could cut single-use plastics waste in Europe by 53%, reduce GHG emissions by 52% and deliver annual savings of €8.7 billion compared to a business-as-usual scenario. If no action is taken, the consultancies warn that costs could increase to over €34 billion per year by 2040.
The report highlights that realising this ‘high-ambition scenario’ will require ‘decisive and coordinated action’ from all system actors including regulators and policy makers, who have sometimes exempted healthcare plastics from past policies. Examples already in practice include several NHS trusts in England replacing single-use surgical trays with reusables, said to eliminate thousands of disposables each year while improving staff efficiency; in France, pilot projects at some hospitals are reprocessing select medical devices, safely cutting both waste and costs; and in Germany, leading manufacturers are redesigning rigid device packaging, reducing plastics use by up to 40%.
“Healthcare has become overly dependent on disposable plastics, locking hospitals into rising costs and increasing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Yoni Shiran, partner and plastics Lead at Systemiq. “By redesigning products and procurement around circular economy principles, we can protect patients, protect budgets, and build resilience against future shocks. At a time where public budgets are under huge pressure, a wiser management of plastic in healthcare presents an opportunity to use public spending more efficiently.”
Several companies have been making efforts to replace single-use plastic with alternatives, such as NBCo’s Fast Forward 50 initiative launched in February, aiming to help brands transition from single-use plastic to fibre bottles and provide a ‘viable, high-performance alternative’ to plastic. NBCo’s bottles are made from bamboo and bagasse, said to offer high durability and strong barrier protection against moisture and oxygen.
Earlier this month, Xampla announced it has secured $14m in private capital towards its goal to replace single-use plastics with plant protein alternatives, with the funding led by Emerald Technology Ventures. Over the next five years, the funding aims to help Xampla’s Morro materials replace ‘more than ten billion units’ of single-use plastic including plastic linings found in takeaway boxes, coffee cups and sachets.
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