The healthcare sector, a cornerstone of our society, also has a significant environmental footprint. In the Netherlands, this accounts for approximately 7% of the national CO2 emissions. Recognizing the urgency to act, the Dutch government, along with healthcare stakeholders, initiated the Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare. This ambitious agreement aims to make the Dutch healthcare system more sustainable and future-proof. It focuses on reducing the sector's environmental impact through concrete goals in CO2 reduction, circular economy practices, medication residue reduction in water, and promoting a healthy living environment.
The Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare, represents a collaborative commitment. Over 200 parties, including hospitals, insurance companies, suppliers, and government bodies in the Netherlands, have joined this pact. The goal is clear: to create a healthcare system that not only heals people but also protects our planet. This initiative is a critical step towards aligning the healthcare sector with national and international climate goals, ensuring long-term sustainability for generations to come. For more details on the broader European climate initiatives, you can read about the European Green Deal.
The five core ambitions of the Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare
The Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare is a crucial initiative to accelerate the sustainability transition in the Dutch healthcare sector. This ambitious agreement aims to reduce the ecological footprint of the sector, while ensuring the quality and accessibility of care. The Green Deal has five essential goals that encourage healthcare institutions and their partners to take action:
- Health promotion for patients, clients, and employees: this includes healthy, varied, more plant-based, and sustainable nutrition, and applying new knowledge and experience about health promotion.
- Increasing awareness and knowledge about the impact of healthcare on the climate and vice versa: this involves embedding sustainable healthcare and planetary health into all healthcare training programmes and actively contributing to the public debate on the relationship between human actions, climate change, environmental pollution, a healthy lifestyle, and health.
- Reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050: large healthcare providers draw up strategic sustainability plans for their property and reduce emissions from staff travel.
- Reducing primary raw material use by 50% by 2030 and achieving maximum circular care by 2050: this means that, where possible, 'reusable' is preferred over 'disposable', and circular procurement becomes a guiding principle for purchasing policy.
- Reducing environmental impact from medication (use): this is pursued through appropriate prescribing and dispensing of necessary medicines and continuing the chain approach for medicine residues in water.
These five goals form the backbone of a more sustainable future for the Dutch healthcare sector, where ecological responsibility goes hand in hand with patient care.
The role of LCA and carbon footprinting in the Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare
To achieve the ambitious goals of the Green Deal for Green Healthcare, data-driven decision-making is essential. This is where Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and carbon footprinting become important tools. A healthcare carbon footprint analysis measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by a healthcare organisation, and its services or products. It provides a clear picture of the primary sources of emissions, from energy consumption in buildings to the supply chain of medical devices. Understanding this footprint is the first step toward effective reduction strategies. For a deeper understanding of carbon footprints, our guide "LCA vs. Carbon Footprint: Which is right for your business goal?" can be a valuable resource.
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in healthcare goes even further. It offers a comprehensive environmental analysis of a healthcare product or service throughout its entire lifecycle—from raw material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation to use and disposal. This holistic view helps identify environmental hotspots beyond just carbon emissions, including water usage, waste generation, and toxicity. By applying LCAs, healthcare stakeholders can make informed choices about products and processes, promoting medical equipment sustainability and a circular economy in healthcare. In addition, the insights from LCAs in the form of EPDs (Environmental Product Declaration), are of increasing importance in public procurements and tenders. An excellent resource on LCA methodology is our ‘Ultimate guide for beginners in LCA’.
1. Healthcare providers, hospitals and clinics
For healthcare providers like hospitals and clinics, the Green Deal presents both a challenge and an opportunity. These institutions are major consumers of energy, water, and materials, making them pivotal players in the transition to sustainable healthcare in the Netherlands.
Energy consumption: Hospitals can significantly reduce their carbon footprint by switching to renewable energy sources, improving building insulation, and investing in energy-efficient medical equipment.
Waste management: Implementing robust recycling programs, reducing single-use plastics, and reprocessing medical devices where safe and possible are key strategies. This aligns with the principles of a circular economy in healthcare.
Sustainable procurement: Providers can leverage their purchasing power by demanding sustainable products from their suppliers. This includes asking for LCAs or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for new medical equipment. You can learn more about EPDs here: "What is an environmental product declaration?"
Water usage: Reducing water consumption and implementing systems to filter pharmaceutical waste from wastewater are crucial for protecting local ecosystems.
By measuring the impact of single use products, hospitals can organise targeted impact reduction measures. Also, more broad procedures, such as an operation, can be assessed to assess what aspects in hospitals are generating an impact on our environment. Also, with their healthcare carbon footprint, providers can set clear reduction targets and track progress, turning sustainability goals into actionable operational improvements. The World Health Organization also provides guidelines on environmentally sustainable health systems that can offer further insights ().
2. Medicine and medical equipment suppliers
Suppliers of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are critical partners in greening the healthcare value chain. There is an increasing demand for EPDs in public tenders, and their role extends from data transparency to product design.
Transparency and data: Providing clear, verified environmental data, such as EPDs, allows healthcare providers to make informed sustainable procurement in their operations.
Ecodesign and innovation: Suppliers can use LCAs to redesign products for sustainability. This could involve using recycled materials, designing for disassembly and repair, reducing packaging, and minimizing energy consumption during use. Our service, "Lifecycle assessment (LCA) consulting for start-ups" , is designed to help innovative companies in this area.
Pharmaceutical waste reduction: For pharmaceutical companies, a key challenge is reducing the environmental impact of medication residues since most of the pharmaceutical products are typically single use due to hygiene. This involves developing more biodegradable drugs and working with healthcare providers on proper disposal methods to prevent water contamination.
Circular business models: Suppliers can explore take-back programs, refurbishment services for medical equipment, and other models that promote a circular economy. A relevant article on this topic is "Burial, cremation or recycling: the (in)visible environmental impact of medical implants".
By embracing these practices, suppliers not only comply and contribute to the Green Deal's objectives but also position themselves as leaders in a rapidly evolving market that increasingly values medical equipment sustainability.
3. Clients, healthcare procurers and insurers
Clients, like the Dutch GGD, other healthcare procurers or insurance companies, hold significant leverage in driving the sustainability transition. Their policies and procurement criteria create a powerful market pull for green products and services.
Sustainable procurement criteria: Insurers and large purchasing groups can integrate sustainability requirements into their contracts and tenders. This can include mandating carbon footprint reporting from providers or giving preference to suppliers with lower product impact. Practice Greenhealth in the United States, for example, offers valuable resources on sustainable procurement for the healthcare sector.
Incentivising green practices: Insurers can develop financial models that reward healthcare providers for achieving sustainability targets. This could involve lower premiums or bonuses for hospitals that demonstrate significant reductions in their environmental impact.
Promoting prevention and health: A core aspect of sustainable healthcare is prevention and is embodied by the first goal of the Green deal. By investing in public health initiatives that keep people healthy, insurers reduce the overall demand for healthcare services, thereby lowering the sector's environmental footprint.
Data-driven policy: By demanding and analysing data on healthcare carbon footprints and product LCAs, these organizations can make strategic decisions that steer the entire sector towards greater sustainability.
The role of procurers is to create a framework where sustainable choices are the most logical and economically attractive options for everyone in the value chain.
A collaborative approach to a greener healthcare future
The Green Deal for Green Healthcare is more than just a policy; it's a shared vision for a future where healthcare is synonymous with environmental responsibility. Achieving this vision requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Tools like Life Cycle Assessments and carbon footprinting provide the necessary data and insights to guide this journey, transforming abstract goals into measurable actions.
For healthcare providers, it means optimising operations and procurement. For suppliers, it means transparency and innovating for sustainability. And for clients, it means using their influence to drive market-wide change.
Ready to understand and reduce your organization's environmental impact? Whether you are a provider, supplier, or procurer, our LCA consultants and expert consulting services can provide the clarity and tools you need to comply and contribute to the Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare.
