The Netherlands going circular in 2050; how does single-use technology fit in with this goal?
The world struggles with enormous amounts of plastic waste for which we luckily discover more, but not enough, solutions. This also applies to the waste caused by our plastic assemblies for single use, which are used in the (bio)pharmaceutical industry. These materials are often burned (sometimes even together with our usual trash) once they end up in the waste stream. At Hitma we’re convinced that used plastics are a valuable material which can be used as a resource for other products. It would be a waste to just burn these reusable materials.
Around the table
To brainstorm about the circularity of single-use products, I came together with my colleagues Nick Boelen, Mitch van Nieuwkerk and Astrid van Ballegoy. A number of different specialists on the subject of sustainable innovations and waste processing. They are enthusiastic about the different opportunities for our disposables and have researched the platinum cured silicone and styrenic thermoplastic elastomer tubing from our assortment. From their feedback came the conclusion that these types of tubing can be perfectly reused. Another benefit is that the composition of the materials in our products are known and well documented. This information must always be available due to the strict regulations regarding pharmaceutical equipment. This makes that after usage, the disposables can be used as a pure material (in contrast to other types of plastic waste where all types of plastic are put together when recycled).
After these positive messages I’ve started looking around in my network in the (bio)pharmaceutical industry. I asked on LinkedIn who, just like us, wanted to give single-use-assemblages a new life to decrease the waste pile. I immediately got some positive responses. That doesn’t mean I already have a complete network of like-minded people, but it does motivate me to continue working on this. So to that end I would like encourage you to join me with your expertise in order to have a bigger network together.
Creating a network
I’m also putting research into the next step; the collecting, purifying and processing of waste materials created from usage of single-use products in the pharmaceutical industry. How can we do this as efficiently as possible and which companies are working on this? I currently do not have these types of waste processing companies in my network, so if anyone has some suggestions then feel free to tell me.
Purifying, separating and shredding
I’m also diving into the technology that our customers use to purify, separate and shred the used plastics. This means that out of the cleanroom the plastics are immediately autoclaved and put in the shredder afterwards. For this I’m looking for a closed system. This is important because you’re of course dealing with pharmaceutical substances. I do have some systems in mind, like the ‘Celitron - Integrated Sterilizer and Shredder’ ISS’. I am curious if there are other companies that already have experience with these types of solutions.
Having single-use take part in the circular economy is easier said than done, but I know that we can make it happen. And we must, because we need to meet the circularity goals of the government (The Netherlands going circular in 2050). We have only just begun, but step by step we will come to optimal solutions.