On Wednesday, February 12, ESCH-R project board member Erik van Raaij, Professor of Sustainable Procurement in Healthcare and WP 4 lead for ESCH-R presented during the third ESCH-R-webinar about sustainable procurement in the healthcare sector.

Erik highlighted the critical role of procurement in reducing the environmental footprint of healthcare institutions. He introduced the concept of “Purchasing of Care” versus “Purchasing for Care”.

Erik emphasized that within the Dutch economy, the healthcare sector is responsible for 7% of the economy’s CO2-eq footprint, 4% waste generation, 8% of blue water use, 13% of raw materials use (metals, minerals) and 7% of land use. He outlined strategic interventions such as the purchase of sustainable solutions, incentivised suppliers to develop and offer more sustainable solutions.

Additionally, Erik underlined the necessity of collaboration between healthcare providers, the procurement department and industrial partners, including plastic manufacturers (Wittenburg Group), medical device developers and suppliers (Medtronic, Philips, and DORC), and waste management companies (Saba and PreZero) to drive systemic change in healthcare.