On Friday 16 January, ESCH-R researchers, PhD and postdocs candidates visited Medtronic European Operation Center in Heerlen to explore how logistics can enable circularity in healthcare value chains.

During an extensive site tour, guided by Medtronic employees Janny Boekhout and Kasia van Aelst, participants discovered new perspectives into end-to-end logistics processes, including returns, complaints handling, safety, and material flows, and their critical role in circular practices.

Key take-aways

• Logistics is not just a support function, but a crucial enabler of circularity. 
• Medtronic also openly shared the operational challenges they face in making circular collaboration work across multiple value-chain stakeholders, offering valuable real-world perspectives for ESCH-R’s ongoing research.

Many thanks to all who came together for this incredibly insightful tour: Prof. dr. Myriam Cloodt, Janny Boekhout, Kasia van Aelst, Ayşegül Özçelik, Behrang Manouchehrabadi, Yifan Yang, Jacopo Parma, Paula Götz, Jan Tsai, Anna Statius Muller and Eleonore Van Hees.