As seen in the graphic, GHG emissions are separated into three categories. The main driver for scope 1 and 2 emissions in medical device manufacturing (injection moulding) comes from energy used to run the manufacturing equipment and equates to about 20–30% of the overall GHG emissions of a medical device company (looking at the overall consumption including scope 3 emissions). The most common way to reduce CO2 emissions here is offsetting by funding forestation projects or other projects eliminating CO2 from the atmosphere. However, there are more impactful and sustainable actions a company can take such as sourcing renewable energies to run their plants or reduce overall consumption of energy by improving manufacturing processes and invest in innovative technologies. Scope 3 are emissions where the manufacturer has no direct impact, as they are contributed by their suppliers or from the up- and down-stream emissions linked to their product and, usually, are the biggest contributors to the overall GHG emission of a manufacturer. Reducing the GWP in design and manufacturing of medical devices can be done by applying various focus areas, such as production efficiency (reduction of waste), renewable energy to run manufacturing and introduction of alternative plastics with a reduced global warming impact (GWI).
Reducing plastics impact Sustainable plastics are materials that can be produced on demand without depleting nonrenewable resources or disrupting the established steady-state equilibrium of the environment and key natural resource systems. In contrast to the traditional linear economy model, these materials exhibit a circular economy framework, which comprises ‘make, use, recycle’ closed-loop cycles. In the sustainable systems, the rate of resource regeneration is equal to or greater than the rate of resource utilisation. Such materials vary enormously and range from highly recyclable materials such as PET that can be reprocessed an indefinite number of times without requiring additional mineral resources, or polymers derived from natural and renewable sources such as wood (cellulose), vegetable oils, sugar, termed biopolymers or bioplastics. Focusing on the raw materials used for production (accounting for about 50% of the overall emission of sub-assemblies), alternative plastics can be a good tool to reduce the footprint of the products. Especially over the last few years interest in alternative solutions has increased and many suppliers offer a broad range of products to choose from with different impacts on manufacturing. Generally, there are four categories of product differentiations: •
Plastics with reduced GWP – same product but with optimised production and
•
•
•
supplier to reduce the environmental impact Recycled content including plastics – PCR (Post Customer Recycled), PIR (Post Industry Recycled) Biobased plastics – Material partly or totally derived from biomass, eg corn, sugarcane, cellulose, instead of crude oil Biodegradable plastics – Material that undergoes degradation in the environment in a relatively short time
The reduction of GWP and the price of the material is usually directly proportional – the evaluation of the LCA data can also help here to find the right balance between reduction of emissions and increase of product price to find a meaningful solution for selected products. The third area of focus – packaging, transport and storage – also has a big impact on the overall emission contribution of the sub-assembly devices. Looking at your supply chain and avoiding energy consuming storage has a big impact on energy consumption and emissions. Developing your product to not require special transport and storage can also help to reduce the financial efforts and allow for more flexibility to ship products. Continuously improving on the three focus areas illustrated below can help reduce the overall footprint of the product by up around 50% compared to establish design and manufacturing setups.
DRIVE OPTIMISATION
DEFINE FOCUS AREAS & PRIORITISE
CREATE BASELINE & TRANSPARENCY 1.
Map process and value chain
1.
Set targets and objectives to
1.
Definition of performance KPIs to
2.
Use of LCA software to create
2.
Definition of roadmaps to
2.
Integration of sustainability mindset
of your product
a credible data baseline
reduce emissions & waste
continuously reduce emissions
measure improvements
in the culture of your business
