Green Healthcare : Achievable? Desirable?
The healthcare sector is at a crossroads. The future of healthcare doesn’t have to be disposable.
The healthcare industry is waking up to an inconvenient truth: it's one of the world's biggest polluters, responsible for roughly 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions[1]. If the global health care sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet – an honour currently accorded to Russia.
Hardly surprising then, that the sector is under growing pressure to clean up its act. Medical technology and digital health, in particular, face tough questions about their reliance on single-use devices, the mounting pile of electronic waste, and the vast amounts of energy needed to keep digital health systems running. Yet, for all these, many see a huge opportunity. By embracing circular economy principles—where resources are re-used, refurbished, and recycled rather than discarded—MedTech and digital health could move towards a far more sustainable future.
For decades, the industry has operated on a linear economy model: make a product, use it, throw it away. This has been especially true for medical devices, where sterility concerns have driven the rise of single-use products. Digital health, while promising greater efficiency and accessibility, is also creating a waste crisis. Many devices, from wearable monitors to electronic health record systems, require massive amounts of energy to function (not to mention the added burden of data centres), while old and obsolete technologies are often dumped in landfills or donated to public health providers in low-income countries (where waste disposal legislation is less developed). In the European Union, only 40% of electronic waste is properly recycled[2]. The rest? Incinerated or abandoned, adding to environmental harm. Complicated designs make recycling difficult, and without robust take-back programs, many materials that could be reused end up wasted.
So what’s the alternative? The answer lies in designing medical devices and digital health products to last longer, be easily repaired, and ultimately be reintegrated into the supply chain. A shift towards modular design, where individual components can be replaced instead of throwing out an entire device, could make a huge difference. Imagine if your wearable health monitor had a replaceable battery instead of needing full replacement—simple, cost-effective, and far better for the planet. Remanufacturing and refurbishment programs could also keep medical devices in circulation longer. Some governments have already introduced extended producer responsibility laws, forcing manufacturers to take accountability for their products’ entire life cycle, including post-consumer recovery and recycling. The industry is also facing the need to invest in better recycling technologies, capable of extracting valuable materials like rare earth metals and high-grade plastics from used medical devices.
Regulation, of course, plays a crucial role in shaping this shift. The European Union has taken a relatively aggressive approach, with frameworks like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the European Green Deal (EGD), and Medical Device Regulation (MDR) guiding sustainability efforts. The EU also enforces strict reporting standards under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and regulates hazardous materials through Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The United States, by contrast, relies more on voluntary sustainability efforts. While the FDA includes environmental impact in some of its reviews, there’s no overarching federal mandate requiring manufacturers to incorporate sustainability principles into product design. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees electronic waste programs, and the Comprehensive Environmental Assessment framework (CEAF) assesses long-term ecological risks. However, much of the responsibility is left to hospitals and manufacturers themselves.
Switching to circular business models isn’t without hurdles in healthcare especially. Would you, after all, prefer to have a box-fresh surgical implant straight from the manufacturer, or one that had been reconditioned? Safety remains a major concern—hospitals and regulators need to be confident that refurbished or remanufactured devices are just as safe and effective as brand-new ones. Recycling medical equipment is also tricky, as many devices contain a mix of plastics, metals, and electronics that require specialized processing.
Technology, as ever, could be the game-changer in all of this, but it is not a silver bullet. Artificial intelligence and big data analytics can help track a device’s lifecycle, predicting when maintenance is needed and extending usability. AI could also optimize resource allocation and identify areas where waste could be cut. Advances in 3D printing, particularly with biodegradable materials, may eventually revolutionize how medical devices are produced, further reducing environmental harm. Hospitals, too, can push for change by embedding sustainability into their procurement strategies and demanding longer-lasting, recyclable products from suppliers.
Money is of course a major roadblock – in the short term, going green in any sector is not cheap. Healthcare facilities must upgrade their systems to support recycling and reuse, while manufacturers may need to redesign products to make them easier to disassemble and refurbish. While these investments can lead to long-term savings, many healthcare systems—particularly those that are publicly funded—struggle to find the resources for such initiatives. Budgetary constraints often mean sustainability takes a back seat to more immediate financial concerns.
Even if the regulatory and financial barriers are addressed, there’s another challenge: changing the deeply ingrained culture of single-use reliance. For decades, the healthcare sector has operated on a model of convenience—use it once, throw it away. This has been reinforced by both manufacturers and healthcare providers, who see disposability as the safest and most efficient option. Moving toward circularity requires a major shift in mindset, from hospital executives to frontline staff. Procurement teams need to rethink purchasing policies, while doctors and nurses must be trained to handle reusable devices with the same confidence they have in single-use ones. Resistance to change is a natural human response, but without a collective shift in thinking, sustainability efforts will struggle to gain traction.
The healthcare supply chain further complicates things. Medical products pass through multiple layers of production, distribution, and regulation before reaching patients. Implementing circular practices—such as take-back schemes for medical devices or recyclable packaging—requires coordination among manufacturers, hospitals, regulators, and waste management firms. Without strong collaboration and clear incentives, these initiatives remain fragmented and difficult to scale.
Although better design can help some products be more sustainable, they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Many medical devices today are simply not built for refurbishment or recycling. They’re designed with glued-together components or contain mixed materials that make separation and processing difficult. Consider the humble disposable scalpel : most now have plastic handles that are glued to the metal blade – a notoriously difficult combination of materials to recycle efficiently. The reusable metal-handled scalpel with a detachable disposable blade is a traditional model that has fallen out of favour but is known to be safe with good sterilisation.
Shifting to a more sustainable model means rethinking how medical products are made in the first place. Manufacturers must prioritize modularity and longevity, ensuring that devices can be easily repaired or broken down into recyclable parts. This also means moving away from traditional sales models that rely on selling as many new devices as possible and instead embracing long-term service contracts that emphasize durability and reuse.
A critical but often overlooked hurdle is data. Without accurate and comprehensive information on medical waste production, it’s difficult to design effective sustainability strategies. Healthcare facilities need reliable data on how much waste they generate, what materials it consists of, and where it ends up. Currently, this kind of granular tracking is lacking in many systems, making it harder to identify areas for improvement. The NHS Clinical Waste Strategy in the UK is one example of an effort to improve data collection, requiring hospitals to report detailed waste figures so policymakers can make informed decisions about sustainability targets. More healthcare systems around the world need to follow suit.
The knowledge gap is another challenge. Sustainability in healthcare requires specialized skills—whether it’s refurbishing complex medical devices, developing new recycling technologies, or managing supply chains in a way that supports circularity. Many healthcare professionals, including those in procurement and facility management, have not been trained in these areas. Addressing this requires investment in education and professional development, ensuring that staff at all levels understand the role they can play in making healthcare greener.
The healthcare sector is at a crossroads. The old model of disposable medical technology is unsustainable, both environmentally and financially. But the transition to a more circular, responsible system isn’t just about compliance—it’s a chance to innovate, cut costs, and build a more resilient industry. With commitment, investment, and smart policy, the medical technology and digital health industries can align sustainability with progress. The challenge is clear, but so is the opportunity. The future of healthcare doesn’t have to be disposable.