In this episode of the ESCH-R podcast, host and lead researcher Nicole Hunfeld visits the Bakken Research Center (BRC) in Maastricht to find out. She sits down with Mark Lazeroms, Research Director at the BRC, and Janny Boekhout, Sustainability Manager at Medtronic, a valued partner in the ESCH-R Consortium.

Together, they explore the role of circularity in developing groundbreaking technological solutions for healthcare. And how does Medtronic, as a large internationally operating company, collaborate in this area with hospitals such as Erasmus MC and UMC Utrecht?

Medtronic is one of the world’s largest medical technology companies, treating 79 million patients per year and developing products for more than 70 different medical conditions. Its Bakken Research Center in Maastricht focuses on early-stage research and development of new therapies and products, as well as clinical studies. With that global scale comes a significant environmental footprint, but also significant responsibility.

Open chain in healthcare 

At the end of each podcast, the guest poses a question to the next speaker. Janny’s question goes to Professor Erik van Raaij, Professor of Sustainable Supply Chain and Procurement at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Work Package 4 lead for ESCH-R.

Janny, “Could a model like Tony’s Chocolonely’s open chain, where producers collaborate to secure fair, stable supply chains for critical raw materials, work in the medical world? Given that devices rely on precious metals and rare earth elements that may soon become scarce, is there a version of this for MedTech?”

Tune in and discover how we can work together towards a circular future for healthcare! Sorry this podcast is in Dutch!

Music copyright: Mr. Gerald