Sustainable health care

In Australia, the health system contributes 7%¹ to total national carbon emissions. Globally, health care contributes 4.4% to emissions².

To tackle the issue and ensure the health system can meet climate change challenges, the Australian Government launched consultation on the country’s first National Health and Climate Strategy In March 2023³.

While there is still a long way to go on the path to a ‘net zero’ world, hospitals, health services organisations, industry bodies and suppliers are making efforts to reduce their emissions. One such hospital and life sciences provider is Getinge. The company aims to become a CO₂ neutral company by 2025⁴ through a stepwise approach in several areas. The target supports the company’s objective to contribute to sustainable health care environmentally as well as socially. In this article, Ralf Schmidt, the Global VP of Sustainability, Getinge, reflects on the company’s net zero journey and the role leaders could play in improving sustainability.

Health systems around the world are under increasing pressure to tackle climate change — what can health leaders do to improve sustainability and reduce emissions?

Improving sustainability demands a forward-thinking culture and focused initiatives, with customers, suppliers and additional healthcare and life science companies. We all need to work jointly together to create a better future.

One of the key focus areas for us is reducing emissions in our own production by implementing energy-saving plans and switching to renewable energy sources. We aim to achieve the emissions reductions goal by systematically implementing EcoDesign across product lines and monitoring life cycle assessments. We'll also continue to collaborate closely with our customers to find innovative solutions to reduce the amount of energy consumption of products in use.

What are the challenges on health care’s journey to net zero?

Health care is a highly regulated market. Patient safety and optimal quality are of highest importance. This means implementing change is a bit slower compared to other industries. Speeding up the journey towards net zero starts at the production sites by driving ambitious energy-saving programs and switching to renewable energy. It continues with future-oriented investments for a more sustainable production and the development of sustainable product offerings. This requires reconsidering how new products could be best designed from a circular economy perspective, including recycling quotes and consumption of energy, water or gases in the use phase.

Another aspect is sourcing of product components, while taking into consideration the entire supply chain. This includes supplier assessments and sustainable logistics management for a net-zero effective supply and demand planning. For the entire healthcare sector it is important to align goals and efforts, to commit and to start now towards the target of net zero and not wait.

What are the key sustainability-related developments that will shape the future health landscape?

Medical technology industry and caregivers are together in the journey to net zero. Stricter environmental-related targets, laws and legislations will continue to unfold in the near future. Additionally, information on product-related environmental profiles, sourcing and production is becoming increasingly detailed, both from legal as well as market expectation perspectives. Separately, medical device companies are also requested to report on environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related aspects according to international and local legislation standards. All this changes the competitive landscape and is also expected to lead to improvement in sustainability of health systems and services.

Could you provide an update on Getinge’s sustainability programs and initiatives?

At Getinge, we’re focused on supporting sustainability programs and targets of clients and health organisations by providing future-oriented solutions and data evidence across the entire value chain: from sourcing, to production to products. We are committed to international standards and organisations, such as Science Based Target initiatives (SBTi), which secures high-level audits on our ESG reporting. By implementing EcoDesign initiatives throughout the entire innovation pipeline of products, we aim to shape the future for a competitive sustainable product and service offering. We always look for opportunities in collaborating with customers and suppliers, with an open dialogue about opportunities on optimisation. For example, innovative digital solutions supporting clients and health organisations leading to a meaningful value add.

^{1. The carbon footprint of Australian health care - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519617301808}

^{2. The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment - www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519620301212}

^{3. Australia's first National Health and Climate Strategy kicks off - https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-ged-kearney-mp/media/australias-first-national-health-and-climate-strategy-kicks-off}

^{4. Getinge to become CO₂ neutral by 2025 - https://www.getinge.com/int/company/news/press-releases/2020/3723392-Getinge-to-become-CO-neutral-by-2025/}

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/Zephyr18