Making the switch from single-use medical devices to tools that are reprocessed, repaired and recycled will help to reduce hospital expenditure, solve common operational challenges and decrease the damage done to the environment through their safe disposal, according to new research from Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University. 

The study, conducted by Masters graduate Mels Arnoldy analyses over 500 common single-use devices and provides comprehensive and structured evidence that reusable medical devices have lower environmental impact and costs than single-use tools.

However, to create such circular hospitals, the industry’s material logistics infrastructure must be adapted.

“Over the past 30 years, hospitals have become more reliant on single-use medical devices with linear value chains that start with manufacture and end with disposal. Many of these medical devices are made of complicated combinations of materials that make it difficult to deal with the waste they produce, so they contribute to environmental pollution. Ultimately, they negatively affect global health, which is a big paradox as this is what the healthcare sector should protect. And in addition to this paradox, linear value supply chains are expensive and vulnerable to disruptions – which can be disastrous for hospitals,” says Arnoldy.

 The study identifies 70 such problems experienced by hospitals in relying on and disposing of single-use tools.

By also consulting with businesses and other experts, the study goes on to provide a step-by-step blueprint for hospitals to follow to become circular, greener and more efficient.

“I was able to conclude that tracking and tracing is the most important element in the material logistics infrastructure, and it’s related to the first solution step that hospitals should start with: they need to identify the current locations of their unique medical devices. They could do this using perhaps more frequent barcode scanning, RFID technology, or low-energy Bluetooth. Tracking and tracing would directly solve most of the problems. It would also allow automation of parts of the material logistics infrastructure,” says Arnoldy.