Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : The 27-Bin Problem

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

♻️ "The 27-Bin Problem" (On Medical Waste Part 3)

Take-back programs are great.

They prove that recycling medical waste is possible.

Companies like Ambu A/S, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific have shown in pilot projects that single-use devices can be collected, sterilised, and recycled.

That’s a major step forward.

But here’s the catch and where my term “the 27-bin problem” comes in.

🗑️ One hospital can handle one take-back bin. Maybe even two.

But if every one of its 27 suppliers brings its own program and its own bin...

you get chaos.

⚠️ Training

⚠️ logistics

⚠️ storage space

make it impossible.

On top we have:

⚠️ Regulatory barriers: you can’t easily move medical waste across borders.

⚠️ Volume: recyclers need consistent, sorted feedstock to make it economical.

That’s why the current system isn’t scalable.

It’s not a technical issue, it’s a coordination issue.

To move forward, we need:

✅ Industry-wide or at least national collection systems

✅ Shared logistics and sterilisation infrastructure

✅ A common framework for what “recyclable medical waste” even means

It’s a multi-stakeholder mess: hospitals, manufacturers, recyclers, transporters and everyone has different incentives.

But if we align, the benefits are massive:

🌱 Reduced hospital waste and disposal costs

🔄 Higher resource independence for Europe

💶 And a clear customer benefit for MedTech companies that take responsibility seriously.

That does not mean that we cannot do anything on our own though, this is where Part 4 comes in.

👉 Do you know of any initiatives working on national-scale medical recycling?

Let’s connect, because this problem can’t be solved in silos.

source : Lucas R. Pianegonda