Of courage and reason - for a sustainable healthcare industry

03.12.2024

Taking the train instead of the car, using less packaging material and buying second-hand clothes - many people are already doing all of these things to integrate more sustainability into their everyday lives. The most important thing is to change lifestyles in the long term in order to establish sustainable behaviors.

But why do people change their behavior and why is it important? Sustainability means using resources and opportunities today in such a way that they remain usable for future generations. If we look at current or past behavior, it can be described as consuming resources. In view of the remaining resources, something has to change in terms of sustainability. This covers all areas, but the focus is particularly on environmental impact. This has been so high in recent decades that resources and opportunities are at risk in the future. The implementation of sustainability and climate targets is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but not drastically enough. After the energy industry, industry is the sector with the highest emissions. Here, companies not only have to rethink, but also implement drastic changes. But this is not so easy in the healthcare sector...

Sustainable healthcare industry - is it possible?

Sustainability has many different facets: In addition to ecological, social, economic and technological sustainability, there is also societal sustainability. All these aspects of sustainability are highly relevant in the healthcare industry, as in other sectors. The only difference is that they are sometimes more difficult to implement. But why is that? To answer this question, let's take a closer look at the various areas of sustainability.

Environmental sustainability: improving the climate

The healthcare industry is one of the most resource-intensive sectors and, according to a study by Health Care Without Harm, is responsible for around 4.5% of CO₂ emissions globally - making it the fifth highest emitter of CO₂ worldwide. The reason for this is the high demand for hygiene and disposable products that ensure sterility. In everyday practice, hospitals and doctors' surgeries have to dispose of large quantities of waste every day. However, many waste products are also generated in the manufacture of medical products. The healthcare industry accounts for an estimated 12% of Germany's gross domestic product, making it a large and relevant economic sector. Accordingly, the relevance of sustainability is increasing, particularly in medical technology. It is particularly challenging here not to compromise the safety, sterility and functionality of the products. Julian Lotz, Managing Director of BIOVOX GmbH, speaker at MedtecSUMMIT on the topic of sustainability, assesses this as follows:

"I would say that sustainability has arrived as a topic in medical technology. Of course, this is no more important than patient safety, successful treatment or precise diagnostics. At the same time, however, the realization that we cannot use resources at will in the medical sector, but must use resources efficiently and in a climate-friendly way, has seeped through, because you cannot heal people on the one hand, but destroy the planet on the other. This also leads to more suffering and discomfort."

Despite the realization that something has to change, the hurdles are often perceived to be greater than they actually are. Despite these challenges, there are ways to reduce the ecological footprint in the healthcare industry without compromising profitability. In line with legislation, there is an urgent need to switch to sustainable materials and use efficient energy technologies. There are various ways to do this. In addition to switching to electric or hybrid vehicles and implementing photovoltaics, the integration of energy-saving measures in production machinery is another approach. In addition, the materials that are used offer some potential. Lotz highlights some of the possibilities:

"There are already companies that are really approaching their products themselves, medical devices and packaging. [...] Whether it's trying to reduce fluoropolymers, for example, or even using bioplastics to reduce the carbon footprint or investigating whether take-back systems and recycling processes can be introduced."

Take-back systems instead of disposal? This all comes down to one central issue: waste management. Of course, not every product can be reused, but solutions for better waste separation with subsequent recycling are necessary, as is the decontamination of waste. Switching to other materials is another approach to reducing emissions. Bioplastics, for example, which are produced from plants rather than petroleum, are one approach. The exciting thing is that the very first plastic that humans produced was based on plants. It was only later that cheap crude oil was used. Now it's back to the roots again, with the aim of incurring no or hardly any increased costs. What is needed is education. "If I'm the only one doing everything sustainably now and it becomes more expensive, many people fear that hospitals will no longer buy my products because the other providers will be cheaper," explains Lotz and continues:

"The important thing to consider is the taxonomy-compliant business. Our plastics, for example, are taxonomy-compliant. This gives you better credit conditions with banks. Today, that is already one percent less interest compared to a non-taxonomy-compliant business. Together with a customer, we calculated how much the company spends on plastics as a raw material from its turnover and how much refinancing costs it can save with taxonomy-compliant business. The result was that sustainable plastics can be 10 to 15% more expensive without reducing the company's profit."

Such regulations enable companies to switch to sustainable materials and still produce economically. Another aspect that is often underestimated is the reduction in disposal costs.

The switch to sustainable materials and the use of efficient energy technologies is urgently needed. However, these measures are costly and require long-term commitment and support from political funding to achieve widespread change.

Social sustainability

In addition to ecological sustainability, social sustainability also plays a relevant role in the healthcare sector. The focus here is primarily on working conditions and access to healthcare and prevention. As a result of the integration of preventive measures into the everyday lives of the population, the number of cases of illness and the need for treatment are falling and, as a result, the workload of staff in healthcare facilities is also decreasing. As a result, the quality of work can increase, as work is generally no longer carried out under time pressure. Good working conditions, which include not only appropriate pay but also regular working hours and psychological support for employees, also increase social sustainability in working life and ensure the long-term well-being of employees. Creating secure jobs, promoting further training and offering mental and physical health programs can also contribute significantly to job satisfaction and thus to the efficiency of the healthcare system. Dr. Jörg Traub, Head of Health at Bayern Innovativ, explains why social sustainability must not be forgotten in the industry:

"For us, social sustainability means that medical products are not only innovative, but also accessible and fairly produced for everyone. In medical technology in particular, we have a special responsibility to improve working conditions along the entire value chain and facilitate access to healthcare for the entire population. Through sustainable materials and fair production conditions, we can not only improve the lives of patients, but also create a future worth living for those working in this industry."

Another key aspect of social sustainability is equal opportunities in healthcare. The healthcare industry must ensure that everyone can access high-quality care. This is where innovative, digital solutions that make healthcare more cost-effective and accessible, especially for rural regions, can help. Social sustainability is particularly closely linked to economic sustainability - they have a strong relationship.

Economic sustainability - long-term market success?

Following on from social sustainability, which also includes fair and safe working conditions, long-term market success is essential. This falls under economic sustainability, a consistent, long-term approach to ensure that investments in sustainable practices remain financially viable and potential savings are exploited. The costs of sustainable innovation and infrastructure are high, and hospitals and care facilities rely on stable funding to implement them. However, economic and social improvements through sustainable approaches are changing the pull factors for the players involved, explains Julian Rudat, Consultant Sustainability at seleon GmbH and speaker at MedtecSUMMIT 2025:

"We see that tenders for products in hospitals are changing in terms of sustainable criteria and new product requirements are emerging there accordingly. It is important to bring these requirements into the company, develop communication processes and ultimately calculate the monetary loss or added value resulting from the change in procurement practices."

The connection between the various sustainability issues becomes clear here; after all, long-term market success also depends on whether and how companies can adapt to customer requirements. If a rethink takes place at customer level, the manufacturer and supplier must also change their procedures in order not to be left behind. This bottom-up effect can quickly lead to the exclusion of players if changes in the market are delayed too long. Then there is regulation. The European Union's Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to regularly report on their social and environmental activities. This also applies to players in the healthcare sector, especially when they reach a certain turnover level. The bottom-up effect also applies here, as the conversion of large companies in the market must also result in an adaptation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This regulation also has the effect of increasing transparency in the area of sustainability efforts and thus also stimulating competition. This reporting requires a lot of data, which must be collected annually.

"It always depends on the data situation. After the materiality analysis, the decisive step is to record this data: to set up appropriate processes within the company to determine how this data can be recorded and how it can be communicated and utilized within the company. This is followed by monitoring the data identified as material. Collecting, monitoring and utilizing data is the current challenge for many in order to then derive appropriate measures, such as the use of alternative materials or the application of eco-design principles," explains Rudat.

This data collection takes time, as the information on sustainability has to be collected within the entire company and along the entire value chain of a product. The industry is also not very agile, as Rudat shows:

"We have long product development times in medical technology and very long approval times, but we also have correspondingly long product lead times. And medical technology companies naturally want to maintain this. To achieve this, it is worth looking ahead to regulatory adjustments to product requirements and comparing the status quo of the products with the relevant data."

In addition, the change in the market and the recording of all sustainability information relating to a company can also reveal other points that can be optimized. Rudat summarizes:

"Many companies sigh at first when they hear the inflationarily used buzzword sustainability. And especially when they see what is required of them from a regulatory perspective. On the other hand, we also have real opportunities that can arise from these tasks: We improve communication within the company, we can look at processes from new angles and design them more effectively with a broader involvement of specialist departments. We can make ourselves more attractive as an employer and increase the loyalty of our stakeholders to the company. We can identify potential for new business models. We are strengthening the resilience of our supply chains."

In this way, economic sustainability pays off in terms of social sustainability. But other regulations also contribute to sustainability: The ISO standards for healthcare are also important, as they provide guidelines for improving environmental and occupational safety and establishing sustainable processes. In particular, ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management) are used in many healthcare institutions to ensure compliance with environmental and social standards. Regulation exerts a certain amount of pressure for more sustainability so that companies also change and are encouraged to become more sustainable in addition to the pull factors.

Why do we actually need more sustainability?

The effects of climate change on health are becoming increasingly serious. Heatwaves, air pollution and extreme weather events are putting a strain on people's health and increasing the need for healthcare services. The healthcare sector therefore not only has the task of meeting these challenges, but also of making its own contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions. It is also important to preserve biodiversity, as many medicines are based on natural resources. Without sustainable use and protection of ecosystems, there is a risk that valuable biological resources will be lost for future generations. At the same time, sustainable healthcare means that resources are used more efficiently and waste is reduced, which can ultimately also be economically beneficial.

The industry has the opportunity to conserve resources and reduce its emissions through innovative approaches such as digital healthcare solutions, telemedicine and the promotion of preventative measures. A comprehensive shift towards climate-neutral healthcare can thus contribute to global health equity and strengthen the resilience of the healthcare system in a changing environment. For this reason, it is right and important that events also focus more on this topic. MedtecSUMMIT 2025 will also discuss, reflect on and provide information on this topic.

Conclusion and outlook

It is therefore clear that both politics and society are opening the way to greater sustainability. What is needed now: Courage and understanding, as Lotz sums up:

"It simply takes the commitment to say: 'Hey, this is an investment in the future and we're doing it now!' You also have to implement innovations, not just try them out and sound them out. Because: you have to do it anyway - and whether you do it two years earlier or later doesn't change the effort involved - the risk is even lower if you deal with the changes that are already foreseeable and introduce concrete measures in good time."

Rudat also appeals to the industry to stop waiting and observing and to take action:

"It's time to tackle this issue. When I look at the list of regulatory requirements that have been integrated in the last two to three years, there is a whole new wave coming our way. In order to avoid having to reduce product portfolios, as was the case with the MDR, it makes sense to identify new requirements and incorporate them into the product approval process."

The path to sustainable healthcare requires courage - the courage to act and perhaps also to break new ground, to seek innovative solutions and to take responsibility for future generations.

"It is so important that we think about the future in everything we do. Sustainability should be included in every new approach so that we all pull together for a sustainable healthcare industry. At MedtecSUMMIT 2025, we are going down this path together and I am already looking forward to the many new ideas," concludes Traub.

As part of the MedtecSUMMIT congress, which will take place in Nuremberg from February 18 to 19, 2025, relevant players will exchange ideas on this topic, among others, and identify paths for future medical innovations.

About Bayern Innovativ Health

Health at Bayern Innovativ promotes innovations in prevention, diagnostics, therapy and care. They network companies in the healthcare sector with experts from various fields and address topics such as financing and product approval. The aim is close cooperation between industry, science and medical users.