Circular Economy in Medical Device Reprocessing
Create a free account to access all information→The healthcare sector is a major contributor to the climate crisis, generating 4.4–4.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions¹,² — a footprint equivalent to 514 coal-fired power plants¹. Much of this impact stems from the supply chain², driven by growing reliance on single-use devices and the waste they create³. Adopting circular economy principles — minimizing resource use, extending product life, and enabling high-quality recycling⁴,⁵ — offers a path forward. Medical device reprocessing is central to this shift, allowing facilities to safely clean, disinfect, sterilize and restore devices for reuse⁶ within Central Sterile Services Departments (CSSDs) organized to ISO 13485 standards⁷,⁸. Evidence shows reprocessing reduces energy use, pollution and waste⁹,¹⁰, while single-use disposables generate significantly higher emissions over their lifecycle². Beyond environmental benefits, circular practices deliver substantial cost savings¹⁰,¹¹ and help stabilize increasingly fragile supply chains¹²⁻¹⁴. Choosing low-temperature sterilization (LTS) technologies over steam sterilization can further cut energy consumption, emissions, and instrument damage¹⁵,¹⁶. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) offers a structured way to evaluate these trade-offs and guide adoption¹⁷⁻²⁰. Despite clear benefits, barriers such as reverse logistics, safety perceptions, and regulatory structures favoring disposables persist, underscoring the need for manufacturers and healthcare institutions to collaborate on sustainable, patient-safe solutions.
Inside the eBook, you’ll learn about:
- The environmental and public health impact of the healthcare sector’s carbon footprint and waste generation
- What a circular economy is, and the principles and strategies healthcare institutions can adopt
- How medical device reprocessing and CSSDs support safe, sustainable reuse
- The economic, environmental, and supply chain benefits of circular practices
- How to evaluate sterilization technologies (e.g., steam vs. low-temperature sterilization) through cost and carbon footprint
- The role of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in guiding circular economy adoption
- Key barriers to circularity in healthcare and how manufacturers can help address them
Reasons to download the eBook:
- Understand the scale of healthcare’s environmental impact and why it matters for your institution
- Discover evidence-based data and real-world case studies quantifying the cost and carbon savings of reprocessing
- Learn practical strategies to reduce waste, energy use, and supply chain risk
- Get guidance on comparing sterilization technologies for both patient safety and sustainability
- Stay informed on regulatory and industry trends shaping the future of circular healthcare practices
Authors
Related eBooks
References
- Health Care Without Harm. *Healthcare’s climate footprint: how the health sector contributes to the global climate crisis and opportunities for action.* 2019.
- MacNeill AJ, Hopf H, Khanuja A, et al. Transforming The Medical Device Industry: Road Map To A Circular Economy. *Health Aff.* 2020;39:2088–2097.
- Health Care Without Harm. *Sustainable waste management: A guide for the healthcare sector.* 2022.
- Geissdoerfer M, Savaget P, Bocken NMP, et al. The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? *J of Clean Prod.* 2017;143:757–768.
- Bäunker L. *Circular consumption in the linear economy: only a drop in the ocean?* 2020.
- European Commission. *Reprocessing of medical devices.*
- World Health Organisation. *Decontamination and Reprocessing of Medical Devices for Health care Facilities.* 2016.
- ISO 13485.
- World Health Organization. *Circular economy and health: opportunities and risks.* 2018.
- Association of Medical Device Reprocessors. *Reprocessing by the Numbers: 2019 Reprocessing Annual Survey from AMDR.* 2019.
- Blackwell T. Showing surgeons ‘massive’ cost of disposable supplies leads to big savings for hospitals. *National Post.* 2015.
- Accenture; European Central Bank; Statista — supply chain disruption reports.
- Advanced Sterilization Products. *Assessment of Operating Costs Due to Energy and Water Use During Terminal Sterilization With STERRAD® Systems Compared to a Steam Sterilizer.* 2016.
- McCreanor V, Graves N. An economic analysis of the benefits of sterilizing medical instruments in low-temperature systems instead of steam. *Am J Infect Control.* 2017;45:756–760.
- EUnetHTA; INAHTA; O’Rourke B, Oortwijn W, Schuller T — definitions of Health Technology Assessment.
- Cicchetti A, Marchetti M. *Health Technology Assessment Manual.* 2010.
