Circular Economy in Single-Use Medical Device Industry : Barriers, Enablers and Design Tool

Abstract: Healthcare waste is on an all-time high with single-use devices being one of the largest contributors. With the onset of Covid-19, this issue has become highly visible and has led to global concerns being raised around the environmental footprint of the healthcare sector and the need to reduce the waste generated by shifting away from single-use devices. This has initiated medical device manufacturers to investigate ways to address this concern to reduce waste and to stay competitive. However, this shift must keep patient safety, infection control and economic feasibility in mind. Many consider circular economy as a holistic approach to tackle this situation. Thus, the purpose of this project is to investigate and gain deeper insight into the possibility of implementing circular economy practices within single-use medical device industry. For single-use medical device manufacturers, transforming from a linear to a circular economy model needs a complete turnaround and brings huge challenges. Therefore, the aim is to identify barriers that single-use manufactures will face in this transition and enablers that can accelerate such a transition. Moreover, it is also included in the aim to create a design tool that can aid such companies in designing a product more suitable for a circular economy. To gather deeper insights into these areas, a case study was conducted on a focus company that is a medical device manufacturer facing the exact same challenges. The study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with respondents representing the focus company and hospitals. The findings from the interviews, along with literature study, identified social, cultural, and organizational barriers, institutional and regulatory barriers, and technological and informational barriers as the major ones. Correspondingly, the same categories of enablers were identified as the major enablers. The results and analysis also showed that addressing the internal barriers and enablers is the most crucial for the manufacturers. They must start by developing the right mindset within the organization, changing their goals and processes, and actively working with developing products that support a circular business model. Only then they will be able to transition to a circular business model. The findings were also utilized to develop a diagnostic tool “Product Circularity Diagnostic Tool” (PCDT) which can help single-use medical device manufacturers to visualize the current circularity of their products and thus aid them in designing products better suited for hygienic recovery.