The sector of healthcare is responsible for more than 4,4% of the global CO 2 Emissions. In Germany the healthcare sector is responsible for more than 5% of the total emissions with 57,5 Mt CO 2 equivalents each year. Most of these emissions derive from the supply chain: production, transport, disposal of goods and services: medical products, hospital equipment, instruments etc. The amount of waste by the healthcare sector is enormous. From gloves to syringes to packaging – a lot of waste from the medical sector consists of plastic. Too often those plastics have a extremely short lifetime and end in incineration plants.
In 2022 nearly 18% of the employees in Germany work in the healthcare sector. That means more than 8 million people work in care, industrial healthcare and other subsectors. (BMWK 2022)
But how to decrease the CO2 emissions and improve the quality of care at the same time? Improving the circular economy can be one step to reach that goal. On the 26 th of October we invite you as an employee
- of hospitals and outpatient care,
- of manufacturers and suppliers in the medical device industry
- of the waste management industry
to the TUM Institute of Advanced Study in Garching to educate yourself about topics of Circular Economy in the Healthcare sector through presentations, discussions, an exhibition and to network with like-minded people and the people from the other areas.
Additionally you can participate in the exhibition and present your way towards circular economy. Further information you can find here:
Information about the exhibition
The event is organized by the projects CIMPLE and MeDiCircle.
The Technical University of Munich collaborates in its international research and networking project CIMPLE (Circular Medical Plastics Engineering) with KNUST from Ghana, ASTU from Ethiopia and the OTH Amberg Weiden from Germany. The high amount of medical plastic waste is a great burden for our environment. Currently, it is normally disposed almost entirely by incineration after only one use. However, plastics used for medical products are often well-defined, high-quality polymers. The aim of our CIMPLE project is therefore to develop organizational and technological strategies for medical to medical recycling or refurbishment of medical plastic products, taking into account the global dimension of the medical plastics industry. These research activities are flanked by the establishment of an international integrated training center based at KNUST Ghana, which brings expertise from colleagues to the project and directs the R&D results to application-oriented use including teaching. Furthermore yearly conferences on the topic are being realized.
MeDiCircle is a CrossCluster Project of Cluster Medical Technology Bavaria (Forum MedTech Pharma e.V. and Medical Valley EMN e.V.) and Cluster Environmental Technologies Bavaria (Trägerverein Umweltcluster Bayern e.V.) together with the platform Digital Production and Engineering at Bayern Innovativ GmbH. The project has analyzed the life of medical products with its regulatory boundaries and opportunities to close loops to increase circularity together with experts from clinics, manufacturers and disposal. The project will present the results of a survey that investigates the challenges that hinder the stakeholders to increase circularity. The project aims to develop recommendations for action for clinics, manufacturers and disposal.
Cluster Medizintechnik 
Trägerverein Umwelttechnologie-Cluster Bayern e.V. 
TUM - Technical University Munich