The discussions focused on developments and future opportunities in the transition toward circular economy principles in medical devices, moving from a linear, single-use approach to a system emphasising reuse and material recovery.
Professor Shahin Rahimifard, Principal Investigator of the ReMed Project, opened the conference by highlighting the global challenges posed by adopting a Circular Economy (CE) within the medical industry. He emphasised the complexity of regulations across regions, the importance of new technologies in reprocessing and redesigning medical devices, the significance of simple to use life cycle assessment tools for decision support as well as the need for interdisciplinary collaboration being vital in achieving NHS net-zero targets through CE practices.
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Professor Rachel Thomson, reinforced the significance of Circular Economy research as part of the new University strategy “Creating a Better Future together” which focuses on three themes of climate change and net zero; sport, health and well-being; and vibrant and inclusive community.
Three keynote speakers covered crucial topics, which included:
- Mr Liam Hogg - Head of Waste and Resources for NHS England - outlining the ‘Future of NHS Waste Strategy’;
- Dr Karen Mayor - Deputy Director for Data, Analysis and Resilience in Medical Technologies at the Department of Health and Social Care – summarising the main outcomes from ‘Design for Life’ initiatives;
- Mrs Lena Cordie-Bancroft - Sector Lead for Medical Devices at British Standard Institute, highlighting the paramount importance of ‘Standards in Guiding Healthcare Industry to Circular Practices’.
During the day there were three thematic sessions addressing key areas such as automated reprocessing of medical devices; operational changes and health economics and circular design and sustainable materials for medical devices. They featured insights from both ReMed researchers, as well as guest speakers:
- Dr Luca Chiocia - Elix-Polymers
- Mr Kenneth Robertshaw - Office of Sustainability, Johnson & Johnson
- Mrs Heidi Barnard - Head of Sustainability in NHS Supply Chain
- Professor Mathew Taylor - Director of York Health Economics Consortium
- Professor Mark Miodownik - UCL Professor of Materials & Society
- Dr Denis Sleath – Senior Research Associate in º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ
- Dr Mohd Shoaib – Research Associate in Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and
- Dr Ramzi Fayed – Research Associate in University of Leeds (UoL)
- Dr Nathaniel Kaill – Research Associate in º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ
- Dr Zahrina Mardina – Research Associate in University of Leeds
The conference programme also included a panel discussion chaired by Professor Peter Culmer (University of Leeds), and consisted of 5 experts from across the circular economy and healthcare sector, namely:
- Wendy Rayner, Head Circular Economy Programme - NHS Scotland,
- Tsanko Dimov, Senior Net Zero Delivery Manager - NHS England,
- Keith Gray, Academic Content Lead for the GIRFT programme - NHS England),
- Mathew Davidson, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies, University Bath, and
- Guy King, Contract Manager - Shapsmart.
The panel’s valuable contributions, and their thoughts on what would be the single most impactful action for making the transition to a circular economy included:
- Eliminate unnecessary waste – we can recycle and reuse thing but not using something in the first place is more impactful.
- Supporting decisions across the value chain of medical devices using change performance metrics which include sustainability.
- Educating and upskilling everyone across the workforce, sustainability should be the responsibility of everyone. There is unique opportunity where clinicians, academics, research bodies and industry all have recognised a need to act in consort.
- Long-term funding in research and innovation programmes and developing long-term circular business models.
The conference hosted a vibrant exhibition and poster session from external presenters alongside ReMed researchers that showcased the research that is being carried out to aid with transition to circular use of medical devices.
The winning poster prize went to Grace Cares Pre-Loved Care Equipment which is an award-winning not-for-profit organisation that rescues care equipment from landfill and offer it to the public, NHS, and care sector at less than half its original price. Any profits generated will be used to fund hardship grants and support for care workers and older people nationwide.
The conference was closed by Professor Shahin Rahimifard, acting as the Conference Chair, who summarised the day by saying:
“Today’s presentations and discussions have highlighted some of the significant challenges but also many potential economic, societal and environmental benefits of a circular use of medical devices. It has also become clearly apparent that a multistakeholder collaborative initiative based on transdisciplinary approach is the only way to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy within the healthcare sector and to improve long-term resilience of supply of medical devices.
The ReMed project team looks forward to collaborating not only with national but also international organisations to build a global synergy for provision of equitable and affordable access to healthcare worldwide.”
