Hospitals produce thousands of tons of medical waste every year, much of which is today incinerated. With the Select4Care project, VIL and Denuo, the Belgian employers’ federation of private waste management and recycling companies, demonstrate that a circular approach in the healthcare sector is perfectly feasible.
Pilot projects in the operating rooms of the Ziekenhuis aan de Stroom (Antwerp) and the Maasstad Hospital (Rotterdam) tested how medical materials can be collected selectively. The materials were collected separately, decontaminated externally and then sorted and dismantled. This yielded significant volumes of recyclable plastics and metals, with high involvement of healthcare staff.
Belgian hospitals together produce approximately 40,000 tons of non-risky medical waste per year. Operating theaters in particular are major waste producers, while a lot of recyclable material is used there. Select4Care shows that circular solutions are technically and organizationally possible, but that a broader rollout requires clear preconditions.
In the final report, VIL and Denuo therefore formulate five policy recommendations:
- Provide clear rules around medical waste, with clear definitions of what is and is not risky, to enable safe sorting and recycling.
- Define when reuse of medical waste is permitted, with clear standards for cleaning and decontamination of medical materials.
- Encourage circular design of medical devices, so that products are easier to disassemble and recycle, with transparent material information.
- Give the social economy a greater role in sorting and dismantling by making permits more flexible.
- Build better visibility into material flows by collecting accurate data on the purchase and disposal of medical materials in hospitals.
VIL and Denuo want to start a follow-up process in 2026, with a focus on economic feasibility and scalability.
