Last week on Wednesday June 4, Prof. Dr. Ir Erik van Raaij, board member of ESCH-R and WP4 lead, delivered his inaugural lecture as new chair “Sustainable Procurement in Health Care” at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM) and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Key insight: we need the whole system in the room

To enable a systemic transition to circular healthcare, we must bring the entire value chain together, from polymer developers to waste processors and all in between. Real change in healthcare requires all perspectives at the table, not just those from within the healthcare sector. We are all part of the problem and the solution, so we must work together to co-create a more circular healthcare system. Improving circularity in healthcare: use less, use longer and use again?! Everyone should think about sustainability everyday.  You need different stakeholders in the stakeholder ecosystem to make this possible. 

Globally, healthcare is responsible for 4.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. In the Netherlands, the sector accounts for 7.3% of national emissions and 13% of raw material extraction. The healthcare sector contributes significantly to the planetary crisis due to its high consumption of products and materials, energy use, and waste production. This creates a paradox in which efforts to improve human health are harming the health of the planet. This needs to change!! 

Van Raaij’s chair will focus on how procurement can be organized and managed in a way that makes hospital operations (and those of other healthcare institutions) more sustainable and circular: “A design-based approach can be used to take action. Starting by identifying high-impact organizations or processes, pinpointing ecological ‘hotspots’, developing interventions using tools such as the R-ladder, implementing those interventions, and measuring their effects after which findings can be shared globally.”

Procurement decisions have a significant impact on the ecological footprint of a healthcare organization. Procurement professionals act as advisors and process facilitators: they bridge the gap between suppliers and internal demand, and influence decisions by asking critical questions, developing evaluation criteria, creating innovative contracts, and scouting for sustainable solutions in the supplier market.

🎙️ During the symposium preceding the lecture, we listened to the following perspectives and voices:

• Nicole Hunfeld, PI of ESCH-R and Associate Professor / Hospital Pharmacist at Erasmus MC
• Alexandra Hammond, NHS (United Kingdom)
• Prof. Jan Carel Diehl, TU Delft (Inclusive Sustainable Design)
• Harald Tepper, Philips (industrial perspective)
• And of course, Erik van Raaij himself, on how procurement can drive sustainability in healthcare.

The symposium was moderated by Maike Tietschert – also part of ESCH-R! – and took place at the Erasmus University Paviljoen.