Circular Strategies for MedTech Suppliers

Developing or improving medical devices to ensure a continuous supply for an exponentially growing population is a critical factor in making healthcare more sustainable.

This course will help you to make the transition towards a circular economy and create value in the healthcare industry on the supplier side. It has wide applications – designers and engineers working for MedTech manufacturers and suppliers; as well as students, managers, industry reps, sales teams or policy makers – anyone interested in knowing more about what circular design entails and how to support the improvement of product development, how to steer teams or give guidance to relevant stakeholders.

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to create sustainable solutions in the healthcare supply industry using circular economy principles. It includes business cases with examples of circular strategies presented by experts in the field.

After taking this course you will understand the fundamentals of the circular economy and urban mining. You will learn how to create supplier value with circular strategies such as reuse, maintenance, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling of medical devices.

You will also learn how to create or stimulate circular product and circular process design. Finally, you will identify entrepreneurial possibilities and smart solutions to create a circular proposal with recommendations for your organization.

This course is part of the program Circular Strategies for Sustainable Healthcare developed by TU Delft’s MedTech experts in close collaboration with industry and renowned institutes. These courses provide not only academic insights but also practical tools and examples which can be implemented in any healthcare organization, and can help you propose and develop your own circular solutions and programs.

What you'll learn

• The basics of circular economy and how to translate circular approaches within your own context
• Define urban mining and identify recovery strategies from an industry perspective
• Classify different waste streams and determine how to use them
• Consider material properties and integrate these into the design of new products
• Develop a new circular product or process which limits or eliminates waste