The hospital Nürnberg has been committed to sustainability and resource conservation in patient care for over 20 years. As one of Europe’s largest municipal hospitals, with more than 8,400 employees and over 2,000 beds, the hospital follows a clear strategy: reducing waste, promoting circular economy principles, and lowering its carbon footprint. A key element of this strategy is its collaboration with Vanguard AG in the field of medical remanufacturing.
Tonnes of Waste in Hospitals
According to the 2023 waste report, Klinikum Nürnberg generates approximately 7.2 tonnes of hazardous waste and 268 tonnes of non-hazardous waste each month. This includes hospital-specific materials and kitchen waste as well as electronic waste and chemicals – altogether 70 different types of waste, all of which must be disposed of separately. “Reducing waste in hospital operations is unfortunately not always easy and presents a highly complex challenge. Economic and regulatory constraints, such as hygiene regulations, often stand in the way,” says Sophie Wald, the hospital’s sustainability manager.
Since disposal should always be the last resort, Klinikum Nürnberg has been working with Vanguard AG since 2003. Expensive and complex medical devices, such as electrophysiology catheters for heart examinations or ultrasonic scalpels for surgical procedures, can be safely reused multiple times thanks to medical remanufacturing. In 2023 alone, approximately 450 EP catheters and around 1,300 accessory items were procured as remanufactured products. In Nürnberg, these are used two to three times more frequently than new products. Last year alone, the use of remanufactured products saved nearly 400 kilograms of waste and over 370 kilograms of CO₂. This equates to the emissions of a round-trip flight from Berlin to London per passenger. To offset this amount, approximately 35 trees would need to be planted. Over its more than 20-year partnership between Vanguard AG and Klinikum Nürnberg, a significant amount of waste and emissions has already been saved.
We look forward to expanding this success over the next 20+ years! The full case study in german can be read here.
In this context, CO₂ represents all greenhouse gas emissions, not just carbon dioxide. The term CO₂ has been used for readability to refer to total greenhouse gas emissions.
