Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council: Driving Circular Solutions in Europe

Dominika Domanska |8th March 2017

Medical Plastics Conference

© Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council | European Chapter

What We Aspire To Do

2

Vision

All healthcare plastics are widely used as a valuable resource in the Circular Economy.

Mission

Collaborate across the value chain to inspire and enable the healthcare community to implement viable, safe, and cost-effective Circular Economy solutions for plastics products and packaging.

Circular Economy Aligned

Healthcare plastics have unique

potential to be part of the Circular

Economy movement, where

nothing is lost or wasted and all

resources are utilized to their

highest potential, delivering better

system-wide economic and

environmental outcomes.


Circular Economy as

a Value Chain Approach

3

A Value Chain Approach

…inspire and enable…

In Healthcare


High Quality Materials …

PP PP, PET, PETG, PS

PP or PVC “Blue Wrap” PP

PP, PET, HDPE

Tyvek® (HDPE) with PP Tray


The Healthcare Plastics

Product – Packaging Value Chain

5


Europe Members

(Just Getting Started)

6

Reaching out to…


Focus Areas to start with …

7

• Create principles of CE for health care

• Identify macro trends and possible impacts

• Create demand / market to create value

• Identify areas of opportunity in hospitals for collection

• Create a coalition for CE solutions, identify stakeholders

• Develop education / training tools

Dialogue

Toolbox

Facts & Figures

Product Design

• Analyze material flows and compositions to

identify hotspots

• Create / Review LCA Case for plastic recycling

• Identify plastic products for recycled

material in hospitals

• Develop a business case on plastics

recycling • Find opportunities in packaging / product

for recycled content

• Develop case studies as proof points

www.hprc.org For More Information:

Dominika Domanska

[email protected]

+32 (0) 746 31 49

Tekchnical Department

The Medical Plastics Conference Brussels 7-8 March 2017

Enabling Circular Solutions in Healthcare Plastics

-Insights from Aarhus University Hospital

Susanne Backer

CE Project Manager

1. Indlæg

Technical Department

Aarhus University Hospital

•Clinical departments: 44

•Number of beds: 1.150

•Staff: 9.400 FTEs

•Annual activities:

•833.655 out-patients visits

• 41.730 emergency visits

•100.817 discharges

• 81.125 surgeries

• 44.600 endoscopies

• 4.647 births

Aarhus Universityhospital

Waste at Aarhus University Hospital

2016:

• Approx. 3.300 t/y

• 20% Recycled

• 79% Waste to energy

• 1% Landfill

2030:

• t/y - Constant

• 70% Recycled

• 29% Waste to energy

• 1% Landfill

Project Aims

• To increase recycling and Circular Economy of

hospital plastic packaging waste.

• To Develop and test a value chain model for

creation of commercial and other kinds of value

out of hospital plastic packaging waste in

cooperation with stakeholders.

Circular Economy (CE) – ’The Butterfly Model’ by EMF

Recycling and Circular Economy (CE) at AUH

Recycling and Circular Economy (CE)

Level of CE AUH plastic

waste packaging AUH/CR

Possibilities for action

Waste Prevention/sharing

3 layers of packaging for sterile equipment

Single/multiuse

Logisitics

Type and quality of Packaging?

Design of packaging?

Bio degradeable packaging?

Maintain/prolong Sterile packaging

Virgin materials

?

Re-use, re-distribute

Containers for fluids

Dialogue with suppliers about deposit system?

Refurbish/

Re-manufacture

Sterile packaging

Virgin materials

?

Recycle Mixed fraction

Partly recycable

Clinical sorting

Clinical sorting

Logistics

Design criteria?

?

Results - Clinical Sorting November 2016

Plastic (kg)1 Solid waste/ day/including plastic (kg.)

Plastic part of solid waste (%)

Patient ward -child 2.0 n.a. n.a.

Patient ward -heart 0.5 n.a. n.a.

Patient ward -lung 0.7 n.a. n.a.

Patient wards total 4.2 n.a. n.a.

Operations Dep. 1 10 64 15%



Operations Dept. 59 392 15%

Pharmacy 7 19 34%

Intensive preperations 17 54 32%

Radiology 3 32 9%

Auxilliary total 27 105 25%

Plastic Packaging – a Complex Fraction

Unknown plastic type LDPE (4)

Other plastic types (7) Thick shrink plastic (PA+PP+EVOH)

PE+PET Thick shrink plastic (PP+HDPE)

PET (1) LLDPE (stretch film)

PP (5) PA+PE

Tyvek (PE+EVA) PS (6)

Ethylene Vinyl Copolymer Soft HDPE (2)

Thin HDPE (crackling disposable bags) HDPE (2)

EPS (6)

Clinical Sorting - by types of packaging

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Blue wraps Other types

of soft

plastic

Header

bags (soft

plastic)

Peel packs

(soft

plastic)

Shrink

plastic (soft

plastic)

Films Containers

(hard

plastic)

Moulded

(hard

plastic)

kg/4

8 ho

urs

LDPE (4) Other plastic (7)Thick shrink plastic (PA+PP+EVOH) PE+PETThick shrink plastic (PP+HDPE) PET (1)LLDPE (stretch film) PP (5)PA+PE Tyvek (PE+EVA)PS (6) Ethylene Vinyl CopolymerSoft HDPE (2) Thin HDPE (crackling disposable bags)HDPE (2) EPS (6)Unknown plastic type

’Suppliers of Plastic Packaging Waste’

500 kgs of solid waste

90 kgs of plastic packaging

45 kgs with supplier name

=

162 different suppliers!!

Preliminary recommendations:

1. Mark all plastic packaging for recycling

2. Reduce the numbers of polymers

3. Give preference to recycables

4. Think re-circulation of ressources

Tekchnical Department

INVITATION

24 -25April 2017

CE Value Chain Workshop

Plastic Packaging for the Health Sector

Aarhus University Hospital

Contact: Susanne Backer

[email protected]

++45 40328360

mailto:[email protected]