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Medical devices account for almost a quarter of a hospital’s greenhouse gas emissions. How can we make them more sustainable?
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The environmental impact of medical devices
Medical devices account for 24% of a hospital’s greenhouse gas emissions. What exactly is behind this number and which area holds great optimization potential, that's what we look at in this article:
The Basics: Sustainability in the health sector
The health sector is a major player in the fight against climate change. With a share of 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it contributes significantly to the environment [Q1]. 71% of these emissions are due to the health sector supply chain [Q1]. This area is also referred to as Scope 3. This includes the production, packaging and transport of products and services [Q2]. This number gives us an indication that this is where the greatest optimization potential lies. However, this number is also very general because there are many different players in the health sector. In order to get a better insight and more concrete figures as well as solutions, we take a closer look at the greenhouse gas emissions of a player, a hospital.
In a nutshell
The scopes are classified according to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol:
- Scope 1 includes direct emissions from its own or controlled sources. This can be the use of fuels in boilers or in hospital vehicles.
- Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, i.e., for example, sourced electricity, district heating or steam.
- Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions along the supply chain. This includes the transportation of goods, services, the disposal of waste, and of course the medical devices, pharmaceutical packaging and laboratory products that pass through such a clinic. Scope 3 is the largest share of emissions - in the hospital as in almost every other facility that is not a power plant.
Deepdive: How sustainability in healthcare succeeds
Greenhouse gas emissions from a hospital
The method of Institute of Global Health and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu) as part of the research project KLiOL (Climate Protection in Clinics through Optimization of Supply Chains) created a comprehensive greenhouse gas balance of Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) for the year 2019. The results were publisher in the Hospital Report 2024 We have summarized the figures in Figure 2. 24%, almosta quarter of all emissions, are attributable to medical devices. What exactly is behind it? Medical devices are products that serve a medical purpose. So, for example, implants, catheters, X-ray machines, laboratory diagnostics, but also and even software. They act primarily physically, unlike drugs that have pharmacological, immunological or metabolic effects [Q3].
How to calculate such numbers?
Es gibt verschiedene Methoden Treibhausgasemissionen zu messen. In diesem Fall wurde ein hybrider Ansatz gewählt: Ein Teil der Emissionen wurde über einen verbrauchsbasierten Ansatz (z.B. Strom) und ein Teil über einen finanzbasierten Ansatz berechnet. Mit letzterem wurden auch die Emissionen der Medizinprodukte berechnet. Kurzgesagt, basiert er auf der Bewertung der finanziellen Aufwendungen, die im Zusammenhang mit der Beschaffung dieser Produkte entstehen (in €) und wird dann mit einem definierten Emissionsfaktor (in CO2e pro Bezugseinheit) multipliziert [Q4].
How exactly this works, we asked directly at Heidelberg University Hospital. Claudia Quitmann is scientific coordinator at Heidelberg University Hospital for the project “Climate Protection in Clinics through Optimization of Supply Chains” and was instrumental in the development of the KlimMeG calculator as well as in the calculation of the greenhouse gas balance of Heidelberg University Hospital.
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The KlimMeG calculator is a free GHG calculator for hospitals. It was developed by the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu) as part of the KliOL project, together with the Institute of General Medicine of the University Hospital Freiburg.
In order to calculate the GHG emissions of hospitals as accurately as possible and at a reasonable cost, the calculator uses both the so-called top-down and bottom-up approaches. The top-down approach is a finance-based calculation method, which is used, for example, for the accounting of medical products and medicines in the KlimMeG calculator. The basis is the environmental economic account and the national economic account, so that economic data are linked with data on GHG emissions.
The emission factors calculated from the data sets then indicate how much GHG emissions are generated per euro spent for e.g. medical devices. The emission factor is therefore multiplied by the expenses of a hospital.
In order to calculate the GHG emissions of hospitals as accurately as possible and at a reasonable cost, the calculator uses both the so-called top-down and bottom-up approaches. The top-down approach is a finance-based calculation method, which is used, for example, for the accounting of medical products and medicines in the KlimMeG calculator. The basis is the environmental economic account and the national economic account, so that economic data are linked with data on GHG emissions.
The emission factors calculated from the data sets then indicate how much GHG emissions are generated per euro spent for e.g. medical devices. The emission factor is therefore multiplied by the expenses of a hospital.
#In a nutshell
Calculate you greenhouse balance now:
The KlimMeG (Competence Center for Climate Resilient Medicine and Health Facilities) offers a free way to calculate the greenhouse gas balance of your health facility with the KlimMeG calculator. Recently a new version (2.0) of the calculator came online: >>Click here to go directly to calculator.
Making medical devices more sustainable
There are several approaches to manage hospitals, but also their entire supply chain, in a more sustainable way. First and foremost, of course, is the prevention and avoidance of unnecessary interventions. But what exactly does sustainability look like in medical devices? What are the ways to reduce emissions in this area?
1. Design for Sustainability
The design, from the construction to the choice of materials, influences the environmental impact of a medical device. By means of a corresponding re-design, manufacturers can optimize them. “Design for Sustainability” is an approach that aims to design products that are environmentally friendly and have the longest possible lifespan. In the field of medical technology, these principles are especially important to us:
- Reduction of mass: Lightweight products consume less resources in manufacturing and reduce transport costs and emissions
- Material selection: The choice of bio-based and recyclable materials reduces the environmental footprint of the product.
- Simplicity (Design for Recycling): A certain simplicity in design and material (monomaterials) ensures that a product can be easily disassembled and recycled at the end of its life. Valuable materials remain in circulation and waste is reduced.
- Modularity (Design for Reassembly): Products are designed so that their components can be easily replaced, repaired or reused.
But also an orientation on Longevity, the Avoidance of harmful substances and Energy Efficiency should be considered depending on the application.
An example of a successful design for sustainability in the field of medical devices is the re-design of a trocar from Röchling Medical, the colleagues were able to successfully reduce its CO2 footprint by more than half [Q5]. This re-design also included our Medical Grade Bioplastics .
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At Rochling Medical, we have developed a best practice example and demonstrate how the CO2 balance of disposable medical products can be improved using a trocar (a sterile instrument for minimally invasive procedures).
To this end, we have integrated several principles of Design for Sustainability (DfS) into the re-design of the medical device. For example, using advanced simulations such as FEM and flow analysis, we were able to optimize the design to save 32% of the material without affecting functionality or stability. The optimized Trokar also consists of fewer components, which reduces the number of injection molds required and significantly reduces the process steps during assembly.
In the Material selection more environmentally friendly materials such as polypropylene (PP) and bio-based PLA from BIOVOX were used. By applying these and other sustainability principles, we have developed a sustainable trokar that has a carbon footprint over 50% lower than a conventional trokar.
To this end, we have integrated several principles of Design for Sustainability (DfS) into the re-design of the medical device. For example, using advanced simulations such as FEM and flow analysis, we were able to optimize the design to save 32% of the material without affecting functionality or stability. The optimized Trokar also consists of fewer components, which reduces the number of injection molds required and significantly reduces the process steps during assembly.
In the Material selection more environmentally friendly materials such as polypropylene (PP) and bio-based PLA from BIOVOX were used. By applying these and other sustainability principles, we have developed a sustainable trokar that has a carbon footprint over 50% lower than a conventional trokar.
2. Choosing sustainable alternatives
On the hospital side, choosing sustainable alternatives can reduce emissions from the medical device sector. For some medical devices, there are already more sustainable alternatives that can be used. For example, there are skin staplers for wound care from different manufacturers in different sustainable designs. An example of this is the skin stacker from NewGen Surgical with a 50% reduced CO2 footprint [Q6]. Whether Disposable products or their reusable alternatives are more environmentally friendly is not easy to answer. This always depends on the application and its requirements. A targeted investigation of disposable and reusable alternatives can answer the question and potentially reduce the environmental impact. For example, there are disposable and reusable endoscopes. Depending on the application and the risk of contamination, the latter are reprocessed after use.
3. Optimisation of the entire supply chain
For manufacturers and buyers, it is important to ensure that the entire supply chain, from raw material mining to manufacturing and delivery, is sustainably designed. This can be achieved by selecting suppliers and reducing transport distances. Here, it is important to find potentials through which efficiency increases and emission reductions can be achieved.
In a nutshell: High emissions mean a lot of savings
The healthcare sector faces the challenge of reducing its environmental footprint while ensuring quality healthcare. As the extensive study of a hospital’s greenhouse gas emissions shows, a large proportion of emissions, 24% in this case, are caused by medical devices.
Manufacturers of medical devices therefore contribute a significant share of CO2 emissions. At the same time, however, they also hold great potential. Possible solutions include the sustainable design of medical products and packaging or the choice of environmentally friendly materials. We take care of the latter at BIOVOX. With our medial grade bioplastics, we want to offer medical device manufacturers an environmentally friendly, high-quality and future-proof material.
This is exactly what you're looking for? Then arrange a free consultation with our experts now.
Citation of source
Do you want to delve deeper into the subject?
For this blog post, we have used several sources. These are marked in the text at the respective place [Q...], and can be found here:
[Q1] Health Care Without Harm (pdf)
[Q2] Greenhouse Gas Protocol
[Q3] Federal Ministry of Health
[Q4] Hospital Report 2024
[Q5] Röchling Medical
[Q6] NewGen Surgical
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