Contract manufacturing
The impact of medical plastics could be reduced by manufacturers switching to recycled or bio-based alternatives – but these come at a higher cost than current materials.
including a neonatal flow sensor that will be manufactured using a biopolymer.
Designing for the environment How a product is designed influences how long it lasts. Whether it can be recycled and how much energy is needed to make it all contribute to its environmental impact. To ensure a device is as sustainable as possible, manufacturers may choose to follow the design for the environment (DfE) framework. This is where the potential environmental impact of a product is investigated before it’s made, so the design can be revised to reduce these effects. Flex applies DfE by assessing the lifecycle of a product – analysing parameters such as CO2
the cartons by reducing the pouch size by 40%,” he says. Europlaz has also reduced the amount of material used in packaging by swapping an inner and outer carton for just one double-strength carton. “Packaging and logistics efficiencies is an area where I think there’s easy wins to be had in our industry,” says O’Keeffe. “People focus, understandably, on the main product and less so on the packaging…And actually when you’re looking at hundreds of thousands [of units] there’s some serious environmental benefits to be had.”
emissions, energy consumption and the percentage of material that can be recovered once it’s ready to be disposed of – and designing for reuse, repair, and recycling. For Fazio, this means starting at a product’s endpoint and working backwards: “You need to define, from the user requirements…how this product will be disposed of, recycled, reused or refurbished.” “This will drive the design of the product. It’s looking at the product development process the other way around,” he explains. Fazio gives the example of a product you’re hoping to repair or remanufacture, highlighting that in order to do so, it must be easy to disassemble. Gains don’t always have to be hard to come by
either, as O’Keefe highlights the benefits of looking critically at how things are done now, even down to the smallest details, to find easy wins. “We had a simple impact on one of our own product ranges, where we realised that the height we could achieve on the pallets and through sterilisation could be increased by a third. And we could fit more into
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The triple bottom line Looking back at the journey Flex has been on to lessen its environmental impact, Fabio has seen the importance of ESG grow not just for his employer, but for the industry as a whole. “I think we are at the beginning of a necessary and exciting journey,” he says. “There is a growing awareness that sustainability is part of the ESG goals of many enterprises. There is a competitive advantage, but also sentiment that this is not an option anymore.” As end users and OEMs increasingly value sustainability, they may well prefer to work with manufacturers who have less of a climate footprint. For example, being an early adopter of biomaterials can set you apart, says O’Keeffe. Plus, with the NHS deadline on the horizon, operating sustainably may one day become a requirement to stay in business, rather than a nice to have – so those already working in this way may get ahead. And while sustainability is great for the planet, manufacturers should note that using fewer resources can be a good thing for their balance sheet, too. “This is a win-win,” says O’Keeffe. “The environmental benefits are so clear. But what people aren’t realising is that it’s that triple bottom line: it does make business sense as well.” ●
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
APChanel/
Shutterstock.com
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