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Towards a Circular Solution for Healthcare Plastic Waste: Understanding the Legal, Operational, and Technological Landscape
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Production engineering, Manufacturing and Metrology Systems.ORCID iD: 0009-0009-3187-1072
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Production engineering, Manufacturing and Metrology Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8745-7905
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Production engineering, Manufacturing and Metrology Systems. Siemens Digital Ind, Evenemangsgatan 21, SE-16979 Solna, Sweden.
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Production engineering, Manufacturing and Metrology Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1365-667X
2025 (English)In: Recycling, E-ISSN 2313-4321, Vol. 10, no 1, article id 27Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Plastic waste poses a critical challenge in the healthcare sector due to its predominant reliance on a linear "make-use-dispose" model, where plastics are typically incinerated or landfilled. This study examines Swedish healthcare waste management practices, encompassing Swedish and EU regulatory frameworks, hospital protocols, disinfection methods, and recycling processes. A key barrier to recycling healthcare plastic waste (HCPW) is the uncertainty surrounding effective decontamination. To overcome this, the paper proposes a circular solution involving on-site microwave-assisted disinfection and shredding, followed by chemical recycling through pyrolysis. This approach considers operational, legal, and technological landscapes and underscores the need for a multidisciplinary solution to enable the transition. This paper also presents a stakeholder collaboration and value capture matrix, identifying the shared value in collaboration among key stakeholders, including hospitals and healthcare service providers, on-site disinfection machine manufacturers, waste management firms, and chemical recycling companies, to advance recycling and foster a circular economy for HCPW.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG , 2025. Vol. 10, no 1, article id 27
Keywords [en]
circular economy, healthcare, plastic waste, chemical recycling, on-site disinfection, stakeholder engagement
National Category
Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-360957DOI: 10.3390/recycling10010027ISI: 001430933800001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85218873990OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-360957DiVA, id: diva2:1942892
Note

QC 20250306

Available from: 2025-03-06 Created: 2025-03-06 Last updated: 2025-03-12Bibliographically approved

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Ganesh, BharghavShoaib-ul-Hasan, SayyedSalehi, Niloufar

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