Market Sector Approach: Medical
Business Opportunities
$2M
Amount the Mayo Clinic's internal recycling initiative in Rochester, NY has saved the organization
$58K
Savings for Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Region by establishing a trade-in agreement for the installed base of 19 stress test systems
$10B
The market for reprocessed medical devices is projected to grow by 16.2% annually from 2023 ($2B) to 2032 ($10B)
Industry Priorities for Advancing Circularity: Medical
- Recycled content standards must be realistic to medical applications and specificities of use. For example, recycled content in non-sensitive contact applications may be the best starting point.
- Establish accelerated routes to screen and qualify durable plastics with recycled content in the medical sector.
- Sourcing of feedstock is one of the biggest challenges in the recycling value chain. However, there have been some successful efforts to recycle single-use plastic bio-medical devices, such as IV bags, syringes, needles, and oxygen masks for use in other products. Such existing medical recycling programs could be leveraged and evaluated as potential feedstock streams for recycled medical durable plastic applications.
- Given the unique requirements of many medical applications, a closed-loop circular approach to medical sector may not be viable. Understanding how the medical sector can fit into a broader circular economy (vs. a circular industry) can offer more feasible pathways to eliminating durable plastic waste from medical. Understanding how the medical sector can fit into a broader circular economy (vs. a circular industry) can offer more feasible pathways to eliminating durable plastic waste from medical.
Such a program could allow for greater circularity of durable plastics in medical applications in a sector-appropriate context.
The medical sector is especially sensitive to risk and liability concerns, so reluctance to introduce new materials, processes, and practices is higher than many other sectors. Pilot programs that provide incentives to gather needed information can catalyze more progress towards durables circularity in the medical sector.
- Value in medical applications are less driven by environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors. “Consumers” in this sector are typically device manufacturers making material selection and recycled content decisions, but patients must also be considered.
- Standards and regulations that advance circularity (e.g., by minimizing the number of different durable plastics used in medical applications) must be cautious not to compromise medical science, device functionality, or patient outcomes.