3 minute read
Comment
from MPN NA Issue 20
by MPN Magazine
editor | ian bolland ian.bolland@rapidnews.com advertising | caroline jackson caroline.jackson@rapidnews.com advertising | christine joinson christine.joinson@rapidnews.com advertising | victoria dunsmore victoria.dunsmore@rapidnews.com vp, sales & sales talent | julie balmforth julie.balmforth@rapidnews.com head of studio & production | sam hamlyn graphic design | matt clarke publisher | duncan wood
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Editor’s Comment
IAN BOLLAND
NEW BEGINNINGS, NEW CHALLENGES
Hello and welcome to the first edition of the new, international version of Medical Plastics News. It’s a new magazine for 2022, with a new editor at the helm, but you have me for one issue only. I will be handing over the reins very soon to someone else to look after you and bring you the latest news and insights from the industry for what I hope will be a good while longer.
You might have heard and read my musings on our sister title Med-Tech Innovation News and The MedTalk Podcast, so I will keep this one as brief as possible.
But I would like to doff my cap to all of those who have worked in the medical plastics industry throughout the pandemic. Though our publication, and the industry, to many will be regarded as niche, it’s hard to argue against it becoming that little bit more mainstream over the last couple of years.
Monitoring our vital signs, testing for an infectious disease that has taken the lives of so many and those working to deliver the therapeutics to aid us to return to some semblance of normality are all things that we have become a little more accustomed to. It’s hard to come across someone who has not interacted with medical plastics during the course of the pandemic, albeit indirectly.
As the world tries to move on, with some governments taking the approach that living with Covid means that they will try to pretend it doesn’t exist, there will be the continuous demand for the industry to play its part while dealing with the buzz word of the last few years: sustainability. I hope that the pandemic has proved that the term ‘single-use’ shouldn’t be treated as if it’s the devil’s work in some ways. One interview which features in this issue shows that a couple of studies show your greenhouse gases output can be just as high, if not higher, in certain reusable devices – and that there is room for a more nuanced discussion around ‘single-use’.
That shouldn’t all take away from the need to be more sustainable and look for ways to continuously improve what the medical plastics industry has to offer. But there is no need to demonise medical plastics, and the wider industry, as it looks to develop solutions that are more sustainable and have a more positive impact on the planet. There are plenty of examples of it being a force for good, and hopefully this year it is highlighted a lot more, including at this year’s Med-Tech Innovation Expo in June.
