Exploratory study of the state of environmentally conscious design in the medical device industry
Open accessAbstract
This exploratory study seeks to explore the current state of design for the environment (DfE) in the development of medical devices ; an historically risk averse industry that lags behind others in terms of addressing environmental considerations. A cross-sectional survey of 34 medical device designers, primarily in the UK and USA , was conducted in order to fulfil this objective. Findings indicate that there is significant motivation to enhance DfE practice, but that there are multiple barriers to this. Major barriers identified are a perception of the high cost of DfE, the industry's current reliance on a single-use business model for many current products and a lack of education about DfE topics on all sides. Designers felt that the most significant opportunities to implement DfE are in situations where they are able to exert direct control, mainly in the early stages of the design process. Issues noted include raw material choice and packaging decisions. The nature of single use business models is also critical, pointing towards the needs for a systemic rather than product focus. For this to be achieved, financial rewards must be evident to firms and the changing regulatory landscape might also make a more significant impact.
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Production and manufacturing of medical products results in at least 15% of the industry's greenhouse gases.
“Because the production and manufacturing of medical products results in at least 15% of the industry's GHGs, this is an important group to engage and mobilize.”
From How Ophthalmologists Can Decarbonize Eye Care (2023) · cites this paper as [75]
The Introduction (p. 1) describes the environmental impact of medical devices and gives a medical-waste figure, but it does not quantify greenhouse-gas emissions. Searches for “15%,” “GHG emissions,” and manufacturing-related emissions found no passage assigning at least 15% of the industry's greenhouse gases to production or manufacturing. (LLM, conf=0.73)
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- Authors
- Moultrie, J., Sutcliffe, L., & Maier, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Moultrie, James
- Venue
- Journal of Cleaner Production
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 108
- Pages
- 363-376
- ISSN
- 0959-6526 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W773980804
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 3.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Cleaner Production (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (submittedVersion)
- Cambridge University Engineering Department Publications Database (submittedVersion)
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/E001769/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Design and Development
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Keywords
- design for the environment, medical devices, environmentally conscious design, preliminary design, environmental regulation, cleaner production
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