New VinylPlus Med project seeks to accelerates sustainability in healthcare  

A new, collaborative project from VinylPlus, the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry, targeted at boosting sustainability in healthcare across Europe, has launched today.

Called VinylPlus Med,  the project brings together hospitals, waste managers, recyclers and the PVC industry in an effort to develop systems to recycle discarded single-use PVC medical devices. COVID-19 has highlighted the crucial role played by single-use plastic medical devices in the prevention and control of infection in hospitals. The surge in the need of such disposable items has shed light on the challenges of properly managing and discarding them after use.

Adequate sorting and recycling of non-infectious plastic waste can significantly reduce the environmental impact of hospitals and their operational costs.

Having previously funded a successful recycling scheme called RecoMed, which focussed on PVC masks and tubing, VinylPlus is now taking this project a step further. In VinylPlus Med the focus has been expanded to include such devices as disposable medical devices including oxygen and anaesthetic masks, tubing, IV and dialysis bags - all of which are made from PVC. Many of these devices, used once and for a short period of time on non-infectious patients, can be recycled.

“VinylPlus wanted to help hospitals. Most PVC medical waste is non-infectious and can be recycled when properly sorted and collected,” said Brigitte Dero, managing director of VinylPlus.

VinylPlus Med is developing a pilot recycling scheme for single-use PVC medical devices in Belgium to help hospitals sort their PVC medical waste stream. The programme will focus on clean and REACH-compliant PVC waste that can be recycled into a wide range of value products marketed across Europe.

Partners to the pilot project, all located within a 120km radius, include Europe Hospitals, a leading hospital group serving the city of Brussels and its surrounding areas; Belgium-based PVC recycler Raff Plastics; and waste management company Renewi.

The pilot will involve collecting and recycling high-quality PVC waste from three dialysis units within the Europe Hospitals group. 

According to Evelyn Vass, Operational Director at the Europe Hospitals, the sustainability focus at the Europe Hospitals has, to date, been on energy consumption, with the aim of reducing costs and the hospitals’ environmental footprint.

“Now we want to concentrate more on the efficient management of our plastic waste. Our single-use plastic medical devices that we use every day should be recycled. Our staff is motivated to enhance the sustainability performance of our healthcare facilities. We all believe that it is our responsibility to save money as well as preserve resources and the environment,” she said.