How Can We Potentially Improve Medical Device Reuse, Recycling and Waste Management in Healthcare for a More Sustainable Future?

The supply of safe medical devices is of critical importance; however, many devices are increasing in complexity to reflect patient needs and for regulatory compliance. Single use devices (SUDs) have been extensively used in healthcare for various reasons including user convenience and perception of higher material quality, enhanced safety, and better mitigation of patient risk for device-associated infections. However, where appropriate, use of cleaned and processed medical devices are equally effective to that of using SUDs. Use of disposables has created considerable medical waste management issues globally. Consequently, this perspective review paper addresses key initiatives and recommendations for potentially improving a culture of medical device reuse and recycling in healthcare ranging from meeting scalability and predictability in supply chain to promoting green design thinking and regulation across micro, meso and macro levels of stakeholder engagement. Building such a comprehensive ecosystem, addressing core responsibilities, resource allocation, sustainable safe handling, segregation and disposal of medical device waste is likely to a long-term process, sustained by gradual incremental improvements and by increased stakeholder engagements. This integrated approach is likely to be supported and enabled by effective tailored strategies and systems, along with strong oversight and regulation, with the ultimate goal of informing national and international appropriate standards.