Confronting the Healthcare Plastics Crisis: The Growing Need to Eliminate Single-Use Items

Image Credit: Bupa

In a world where healthcare saves lives daily, it’s paradoxical that the systems meant to heal are also quietly harming the planet. Nigel Sullivan, Bupa’s Chief Sustainability and People Officer, is sounding the alarm: the healthcare sector is responsible for 4.4% of global carbon emissions and produces an eye-watering volume of waste each year. The industry’s environmental impact is no longer a side note—it’s a central issue that demands urgent, systemic change. And at the heart of the challenge? The omnipresent, often invisible culprit: single-use items (SUIs).

From operating theatres to dental chairs, from care homes to hospital wards, SUIs are everywhere. The list is endless: gloves, masks, gowns, medicine pots, rinsing cups. Introduced initially to improve hygiene and prevent cross-contamination, these disposable tools have become the default. But this convenience comes at a steep cost.

In the U.S. alone, the single-use surgical masks and isolation gowns used in 2020 generated emissions equivalent to 78 coal-fired power plants. Let that sink in.

And it’s not just about emissions. Many of the plastics used in these products contain toxic additives that leach into soil and water systems. Microplastics—those tiny, indestructible fragments—have been found in the placentas of unborn babies. Alarming research links plastic exposure to diabetes, obesity, cancer, and even cardiovascular disease. One study found microplastics in 60% of arterial fat deposits in patients with heart conditions.

Yet amid this grim reality lies a powerful opportunity to rethink how healthcare is delivered, starting with what is used and what is reused.

Take the University of Minnesota Medical Centre Fairview. By simply re-evaluating its surgical kits and removing unused components, it cut down waste by 2,400 kg annually and saved over $81,000. Or consider Medsalv, a remanufacturing firm that helped Southern Cross Auckland Surgical Centre reduce its use of patient transfer slides from 4,300 disposables to just 100 reusables, slashing clinical waste by 903 kg in a single year.

The solution doesn’t lie in a silver bullet—it lies in many small, strategic shifts:

• Choosing reusable or reprocessed items

• Using fewer products where clinically safe

• Switching to sustainable materials

• Challenging long-standing procurement habits

Each change matters. But scaling them across an entire sector? That’s the hard part.

Transitioning from SUIs to greener alternatives isn't without hurdles. From regulatory red tape to infrastructure redesigns, the path forward is anything but linear. For example, reusable equipment must be sterilised—a process that, if powered by non-renewable energy, can ironically end up with a larger carbon footprint than the disposable item it replaces.

That’s why this shift requires more than enthusiasm—it demands rigorous risk assessment, operational planning, and data-driven decision-making. Sustainable change isn’t a trend; it’s a transformation, and that takes time, coordination, and clarity.

No single organisation can solve this alone. Progress hinges on collaboration between clinicians, administrators, suppliers, policymakers, and sustainability professionals. Fortunately, many alliances and working groups are emerging to tackle the SUI challenge head-on, creating knowledge hubs and resource-sharing ecosystems.

Bupa is contributing to this momentum through the launch of a global report—a practical blueprint packed with actionable strategies and a call for deeper research into the health and environmental consequences of SUIs. This isn’t about lowering care standards—it’s about reimagining excellence.

Whether you work in healthcare, on the front lines or in the back office, you have a part to play. The status quo won’t shift itself. It needs nudges, champions, and disruptors.

Bupa isn’t claiming to have all the answers, but it is clear on one thing: the time to act is now. The longer we wait, the harder it becomes to separate healing people from harming the planet.