Identifying Hotspots in Hospitals and Research Institutions

Research Line: Circular Safe Hospitals / Seed Call: i4CS October 2024

This project aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the most used consumables, both in terms of quantity and costs, within hospital and university laboratories. We define “laboratory consumables” as a collection of commonly used disposable materials such as pipettes, pipette tips, tubes, and other single-use plastics, as well as essential reagents including ethanol, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), extraction kits, and cell culture media. By leveraging procurement data, the project seeks to identify scope 3 emission hotspots and generate actionable insights for more sustainable practices, including alternatives to commonly used laboratory consumables.

Objectives and route to impact

The project follows a three-phase approach to assess the environmental impact of laboratory consumables in healthcare and academic settings, contributing to sustainable procurement strategies.

1. Data Collection and Filtering: Procurement data from UMC Utrecht and WUR will be gathered, including annual quantities, financial costs, and weights of consumables. A filtering process with procurement stakeholders will identify the most used items for further footprint analysis.
2. Data Analysis and Hotspot Identification: Using methodologies from the NFU medical disposables project, data will be analyzed to determine primary and secondary materials, estimate CO2e footprints, and identify high-impact consumables. Circular economy experts will assist in refining footprint estimations.
3. Data Integration and Reporting: Findings from both institutions will be harmonized into a final report, including a discussion on sustainable alternatives such as reusable or biodegradable options. The report will offer actionable strategies for decision-makers in hospitals and universities.

Alignment with Circular Safe Hospitals and Sustainability Goals

This research aligns with the Circular Safe Hospitals (CSH) initiative and the Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare 3.0 by addressing critical knowledge gaps on the environmental impact of laboratory consumables. It prioritizes high-impact interventions and offers scalable solutions to reduce reliance on raw materials and emissions.

Transdisciplinary Approach and Impact

The project integrates expertise from environmental science (WUR) and healthcare (UMC Utrecht), ensuring a balanced academic and applied perspective. Collaboration with procurement departments grounds the research in real-world data, supporting practical implementation of circular alternatives. The involvement of NFU and industry partners further strengthens the potential for large-scale impact.

Contribution to cross-EWUU collaboration

The project team consists of researchers from UMC Utrecht and WUR, representing a diverse range of roles, including management, a researcher, a lab technician and a sustainability coordinator. Besides, our stakeholders and partners include procurement experts from both UMC Utrecht and WUR. This initiative was inspired by a recent national project from the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU), in which a detailed analysis was performed on procurement data of all UMC hospitals in the Netherlands, focusing on medical disposables. As this project does not include laboratory products, we will collect 2023 data from UMC Utrecht and WUR respective procurement departments, with a focus on laboratory consumables, to identify scope 3 emission hotspots of laboratories. The added value of this collaboration lies in the integration of hospital and university data, which will provide an overview of procurement hotspots in labs of both types of institutions and offer sustainable alternatives to reduce the environmental impact in healthcare and research settings.

Outcomes

In june 2026, the team delivered their final report. The report presents a spend-based hotspot analysis, comparing procurement patterns between hospital and university laboratories to identify the laboratory consumables that contribute most to scope 3 carbon emissions. By quantifying and ranking these hotspots, the analysis provides an evidence-based foundation for understanding the climate impacts of laboratory operations and highlights potential areas for circularity and lower-impact alternatives.

Methodological challenges are also discussed, including data completeness and footprint uncertainty, and discuss the implications for Circular Safe Hospitals and the Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare 3.0 targets, as well as opportunities for scaling this approach across institutions.

The outcomes aim to raise awareness of the footprint of laboratories in hospitals and universities, inform future research, and support data-driven decisions for sustainable laboratory management.

Download the full report below.

And click here to download the suplementary table.

Team

• Desiree Beaujean – WUR
• Serena Rizzo – WUR
• Joep Sprangers – UMC Utrecht
• Tessa Keukens – WUR
• Wouter Hoenderdaal – WUR