When compared to reusable medical textiles, single-use medical nonwovens have several advantages that make them popular in healthcare settings. Single-use medical nonwovens do have a drawback, though, in that they have to be disposed of after use, which can harm the environment.
Under upcoming EU regulations, single-use medical nonwovens are expected to be a focal point of legislation in Europe, and pressure to recycle single-use medical textiles or purchase reusable and washable medical textiles is expected to build on hospitals in the EU. Revolution-ZERO has installed an advanced laundry facility named Zero-Decon at a hospital in Wales. Revolution-ZERO is promoting the use of washable and reusable medical textiles at NHS facilities in the UK.
There are several difficulties associated with recycling single-use medical textiles. In response, a number of pilot schemes for establishing circular supply chains have been launched. In Saudi Arabia, SABIC, a global chemicals company headquartered in Riyadh, continues to expand its Trucircle portfolio of polymers–which includes those made using bio-based waste and recycled polymers in the form of drop-in solutions–and it plans to increase its capacity for making Trucircle plastics to 1 mn tons by 2030.
A few National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the UK now have Thermal Compaction Group’s (TCG) Sterimelt units. These units have the ability to on-site process waste surgical polypropylene wrap into plastic bricks, which can then be used to make furniture, decking, and fence posts.