Key Insights from Online Workshop: 'Circular Economy Solutions for Small Medical Devices'
The ReMed online workshop ‘Circular Economy Solutions for Small Medical Devices using Operational Models’, was successfully held on 2 December 2024.
By Antuela Tako, Mohd Shoaib and Sophie Noctor | Published on 17 January 2025
Categories: Business; Research; Nottingham Business School;
Organised by Professor Antuela Tako (ReMed Project Co-Lead for Business and Operations) from Nottingham Business School, this interactive event attracted a diverse audience, approximately 80 participants from the UK and beyond.
Attendees on the day included industry representatives, in key sustainability and circular economy roles from NHS England, Scotland, regional NHS trusts, as well as academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in the topic.
The workshop aimed to disseminate the research findings, to gather feedback from the audience and to discuss the opportunities and challenges related to sustainability and circularity of healthcare supply chains.
The workshop featured two parts: presentations and a panel discussion. Professor Antuela Tako and Dr Mohd Shoaib presented findings on circular economy models for laparoscopic scissors and inhalers, emphasising financial, operational, and environmental outcomes. A live demonstration of a supply chain model was provided, enabling participants to explore scenarios. A simplified scenario-based tool was also shared. Those interested in using the tool can explore different scenarios using their own data for their specific settings.
The panel discussion, featuring industry experts, highlighted the importance of data-driven decision support models in advancing circular economy practices within healthcare supply chains.
Panel Members included:
- Daniel Coole: Managing Director, Surgical Holdings
- Jenny Drake: Sustainability Manager, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Janet Smith: Head of Sustainability, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust & Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
- Tsanko Dimov: Senior Net Zero Delivery Manager, Greener NHS
Further discussion covered the challenges and potential solutions for broader implementation of circular economy principles in healthcare. The panellists also responded to comments from the audience regarding NHS targets for reducing waste, calculating the environmental impact of supply chains and decontamination to accelerate the move from single use to circular economy.
Professor Takou said: “It was great to have such a great engagement at our workshop, which provided a valuable platform to share our model-based findings with the research and healthcare community. The ReMed project has been extremely rewarding, enabling us as researchers, to address critical challenges in developing advanced modelling tools that can support the transition to circular economy of small medical devices, and equally allowing us to contribute to the broader sustainability and Net Zero agenda of the health sector.”
Furthermore, the experts highlighted the importance of collaboration among industry stakeholders, practitioners, and academia to drive systemic change.