How do you get rid of waste in the healthcare value chain through circular solutions?

Working with Implement Consulting Group, a leading global pharmaceutical company focused on pioneering initiatives aimed at leaving zero environmental impact and transitioning into a circular business model that keeps products and materials in use.

Climate and resource challenges in healthcare

Growing concerns over climate change have led to transformative efforts within Denmark's pharmaceutical industry, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emissions – down by 42% from 1990 to 2017. Moreover, industry leaders have launched ambitious initiatives to combat climate change. However, back in 2021 the industry faced – and still faces – pressing challenges related to material and resource consumption.

At the current rate of consumption in 2025, the Global Footprint Network estimates that it would take 1.8 Earths to produce and regenerate all the resources we use today. And unfortunately, most resources consumed end up in landfills or are incinerated, both of which contribute to carbon emissions. Furthermore, projections suggest that Denmark's plastic waste volume could increase by 25% by 2030, with only 29% of plastic waste recycled back in 2015. This scenario underscores the intertwined nature of the climate crisis with a rising resource crisis, demanding urgent attention and action from industries globally.

While the challenge was evident, addressing it posed major challenges. At the time most business models were designed based on a linear take-make-dispose industrial paradigm. Big investments had been made, capabilities had been built, and global supply chain networks had been installed to support this wasteful logic.

From a linear to a circular business model

Recognising the need for transformative change, one global pharmaceutical company set forth an ambitious environmental sustainability strategy, pushing to leave zero environmental impact while rethinking its fundamental business model.

A cornerstone of the strategy was the desire to transition towards a circular paradigm to eliminate waste and ensure continuous resource use. This was a bold strategy, given the significant investments in the current business model and the tailored global value chain network. Essential to this transformation was the design of new products, packaging, and processes geared towards circularity, including enabling the reuse and recycling of existing products.

Of particular concern was the production and distribution of hundreds of millions of medical devices annually, with each device comprising close to 80% plastic. Despite advancements in global waste management, the single-use nature of these medical devices posed challenges, being classified as hazardous waste requiring specialised treatment. Accordingly, the pharmaceutical company decided to lead by example, designing a new business model for reclaiming these medical devices to recycle them and reuse materials.

A new circular and scalable business model

Facing a complex global challenge, the company decided to start small before scaling – and to zoom in on the patients: the end users of the medical devices. If the company was not able to design a solution that would enable behavioural change and new patterns of pen disposal, not a single medical device would be collected.

To remedy this, a global patient insights and waste management study was launched to understand pen disposal practices and determine how best to influence patient waste disposal routines. Based on insights gathered through deep field studies in China, the US, and Europe, it was determined to design and pilot a new business model in a local European market before looking into global scalability of a take-back business model.

Based on patient and industry insights, a range of strategic issues was examined, and several circular business models addressing the take-back challenge were swiftly designed and prototyped to generate quick learnings. Deep analytical insights, company experts' extensive experience, and best practices from similar programmes in other industries informed the process.

Challenges arose throughout the value chain: designing for behavioural change to maximise patient collection rates, engaging stakeholders like healthcare professionals and pharmacies, identifying optimal collection touchpoints, navigating regulatory hurdles to maintain safety standards, designing feasible return logistics, storing and treating hazardous waste, and enabling the sustainable reuse of reclaimed materials. The list of critical issues was extensive.

To manage these issues and critical choices, everything was integrated into a cross-functional design and prototyping process, with fast testing of critical assumptions and continuous business model iterations based on feedback from stakeholders, value chain partners, and patients.

A key enabler in preparing the pilot take-back programme was establishing trusted partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem – from pharmacies and logistics providers to waste management companies, authorities, and patient groups. This collaborative network allowed comprehensive piloting, combining patient feedback, secure hazardous waste logistics, and compliant recycling infrastructure under one coordinated model.

Since the pilot's launch in 2020, the initiative has scaled significantly. By mid-2025, the programme had collected over four million medical devices in seven countries. Returned devices are now crushed, separated into fractions, and reprocessed into new products. This initiative provides a tangible example of how large companies can close material loops and shift towards circular business models.