Dive Brief:

The healthcare sector’s dependence on single-use plastics is creating waste, driving up supply and operational costs, and creating more than 4.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, according to a new report from Eunomia and Systemiq.

Less than 5% of healthcare plastics are recycled through mechanical recycling processes in North America and Europe, the report said. Healthcare systems in the U.S. and Canada generated about 1.2 million metric tons of single-use healthcare plastic waste in 2023, while another 900,000 mt of healthcare plastic waste came from Europe.

The sector can curb such waste through a range of interventions, such as reducing or reusing some plastic components and focusing on improving recycling sys

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