Blog posts tagged ‘disposability’

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Various medical waste bags are stacked against a wall at Fann Hospital in Dakar, Senegal.

Following Waste: Insights from CRCF’s Research at Fann Hospital, Senegal

Blog posts

This article shares insights from CRCF’s research at Fann Hospital in Senegal, following the routes that healthcare waste takes after use and examining the everyday systems that shape its management. Looking beyond the point of disposal, the piece reflects on how single-use medical materials move through hospital infrastructures, and what these movements reveal about care, responsibility and environmental impact.
A group of researchers group around a table to see a presentation of the screen infront of them.

Cleaning and Sterilising Hospital Textiles in the Early Twentieth Century

Presentations

Eloïse Richard presented ‘Behind the White Coat: Cleaning and Sterilizing Hospital Textiles in the Early 20th Century’ at the international conference ‘A History of Textile Cleanliness’, exploring the labour, infrastructure, and material practices that supported hospital care before the widespread turn to disposability.
A monochrome illustration of the Evelyn table of veins.

Talking Trash: The Rise of Throwaway Medical Culture

Presentations

Bruno Strasser presented ‘Talking Trash — The Rise of Throwaway Medical Culture in the Age of Plastics’ at the Leuven Centre for Health Humanities, exploring how single-use medical devices transformed hospital care in the second half of the twentieth century.
Different parts of plastic medical devices are strewn on a blue background.

Reducing single-use plastics in Scottish healthcare

Presentations

Dani Farrow presented After the Single Use research at a national NHS Scotland Sustainable Delivery Group meeting, contributing to discussions on reducing single-use plastics across Scottish healthcare.
An exhibition presentation stage with screen and large dark coloured backdrop. In front is a researcher presenting with a microphone.

Making Medical Materials Visible at Med-Tech Expo 2026

Presentations

After the Single Use researchers Alice Street and Millie Marriott Webb participated in Med-Tech Insights Expo 2026, presenting research on single-use medical devices and showcasing Deconstructing Devices, a project that reveals the material complexity of everyday healthcare technologies.
Four people in hi-vis jackets stand in the foreground with large sacks of plastic waste in a warehouse space.
06 Feb 2026

"Waste & wasting”: Mapping research on waste at the University of Edinburgh

After the Single Use co-organised a University of Edinburgh workshop bringing together researchers from across disciplines to explore waste, waste work, and waste landscapes. The event highlighted shared concerns around value, labour, plastics, pollution, and the infrastructures that shape how waste is understood and managed.
A pair of hands hold plastic parts of an IV catheter against a green background with subtitles from the video.

Deconstructing Devices: unpacking the hidden material complexity of an IV catheter

Blog posts

A new Deconstructing Devices video explores the material composition of a single IV catheter, revealing the multiple plastic components and hidden infrastructures embedded within everyday medical devices.
A large wall of waste is being moved around by an orange forklift truck digger.
21 May 2026

Researchers gather for the Plastics Research Forum at the University of Edinburgh

Researchers from across the University of Edinburgh will come together this month for the first Plastics Research Forum, an interdisciplinary event designed to connect scholars working on plastics across a wide range of fields.
Jeremy Greene stands at a lecture in a suit with a slide on the projector showing a cartoon shark eating a syringe from a New Jersey press clipping.

Rethinking the Role of Single-Use Plastics in Healthcare at the Institute for Health and Society seminar series

Presentations

Jeremy Greene presented ‘After the Single Use: Rethinking the Role of Single-Use Plastics in Healthcare’ as part of the 2026 Institute for Health and Society seminar series.
After the Single Use researcher Akhilesh Bonthu presenting a paper at a lecture in a room with wooden panelling behind him and a projector screen.

Single-use plastics in forensic medicine: exploratory study at Telangana State Annual Forensic Medicine Conference 2026

Presentations

After the Single Use researcher Akhilesh Bonthu presented new research on the use of single-use plastics in forensic autopsy settings at the Telangana State Annual Forensic Medicine Conference 2026.
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