Plastics in health care: rethinking medical device innovation, use, and disposal for sustainability

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Each year, billions of plastic syringes and face masks are discarded globally, contributing to pollution, toxic exposure, and climate change, disproportionately affecting marginalised communities. Once unknown, single-use medical plastics now dominate modern health care, but their harms are increasingly recognised. The three interdisciplinary essays in The Lancet reimagine common disposables - diagnostic tests, masks, and syringes - through a sustainability lens. They emphasise that current practices are not inevitable but shaped by values and decisions. By integrating engineering with social sciences, we can redesign materials and systems to reduce reliance on harmful plastics and build more equitable, reusable, and ecologically responsible health care infrastructures.

Full citation

Street, Alice, Anne Kveim Lie, Bruno J. Strasser and Jeremy A. Greene. 'Plastics in health care: rethinking medical device innovation, use, and disposal for sustainability'. Lancet Comment (27 June 2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01099-2