Alex Fong, insights and sustainability lead, Owen Mumford, addresses the environmental impact of single-use drug delivery devices and emphasises the role of life-cycle assessment (LCA) in sustainable design.
Healthcare has seen a move away from reusable items to single-use disposables in recent decades – driven by benefits including infection control and lower costs. In Europe, it is estimated that 36% of healthcare waste is plastic – and 42% of healthcare plastic waste is incinerated, harming the environment. In the UK, the National Health Service (the biggest employer in Europe, to provide context on its scale) is not only one of the biggest producers of healthcare waste in Europe but also the biggest user of single-use plastic, according to Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network.