Explore every episode of the podcast The Sustainable Healthcare Podcast

What happens when you move acute hospital care into the patient's own home? Maria Normann Larsen shares the results of Denmark's first hospital-at-home randomised trial.

About the guest: Maria Normann Larsen is a medical doctor and researcher at Herlev Hospital who recently completed her PhD on remote care. Her randomised trial, run at Nordsjaellands Hospital, tested whether acutely ill patients treated at home do better than those admitted to a conventional ward.

Three takeaways:

• Patients treated at home were measurably more physically active than those in hospital, which matters because the drop in activity during admission drives functional decline and slower recovery.
• - They were also more satisfied with their treatment, so the better-for-recovery option was also the one patients preferred.
• - Hospital at home is a complex intervention, not just a change of location. It only works when hospital teams, municipalities, patients and relatives are aligned, and a model proven in one department cannot simply be lifted onto the shelf elsewhere.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro and why remote care
02:00 - What is a care model, and the trial's goal
05:00 - The findings: more active, more satisfied
09:00 - Why it's a complex intervention
12:00 - Which patients it suits
17:00 - A first step for teams who want to try it

References:

• Hybrid Hospital at Home and Physical Activity RCT (JAMA Network Open): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2850565
• - Informal caregivers in a hybrid hospital-at-home model (BMC Health Services Research): https://research.regionh.dk/en/publications/caring-beyond-hospital-walls-informal-caregivers-experiences-in-a/
• - Nordsjaellands Hospital: https://www.nordsjaellandshospital.dk
• - Maria Normann Larsen on LinkedIn: [add link]

You might also enjoy:

• Telemedicine: Reaching Drawdown with a Decentralised Healthcare System (Ep 016)
• - The Transition From the Sick Care System to a Preventive Care System (Ep 008)

Hosts:
Joachim Almdal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
Frederik van Deurs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com

"It's not just a shift of location. It's more complex than that. Just because we showed we could do it at one hospital doesn't mean everyone else can take it off the shelf and implement it."

If we want to fix sustainability in healthcare, one of the most powerful levers sits at the gate where new health technologies get approved: Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, Frederik Dam van Deurs speaks with Melissa Pegg, Senior Research Consultant in Environmental Sustainability in HTA at the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC), University of York, and co-lead of the first HTAi Working Group on environmental sustainability in HTA.

Disclosure: All opinions are Melissa's own and not the opinions of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

About the guest: Melissa Pegg leads YHEC's environmental sustainability work, bringing environmental impact methods into HTA and health economics for the NHS, government bodies and industry. She holds a master's in HTA (University of Glasgow), spent 18 years in industry before academia, and was a fellow in sustainable surgery for the BMJ.

Three things you'll take away:

• HTA works as a "gatekeeper", and adding environmental impact alongside safety, efficacy and cost could reshape which technologies reach patients.
• - The "information conduit" and "parallel" approaches: getting environmental data into HTA now, reported alongside health-economic data, without waiting for agencies to build new capacity.
• - A real case study with the Scottish Health Technologies Group: reusable vs single-use endoscopes came out around 50% less environmentally impactful, with a more favourable budget impact and QALY, and still held up when the 3,000-use assumption was quartered under sensitivity analysis.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Life in York: yoga, two boys, philosophy
03:00 What HTA is, and why it's a gatekeeper
07:00 National vs global: WHO, NICE and the devolved-nation agencies
09:00 The "reference case" and how agencies differ
15:00 Adding the environmental and planetary-health perspective
17:00 Safety for whom? Bringing the environment into the safety domain
22:00 Can it work? The information-conduit approach
24:00 Case study: reusable vs single-use endoscopes with SHTG
30:00 The figures: around 50% lower impact, favourable budget and QALY
33:00 The "just transition" and the classic objections to reusables
39:00 Sensitivity analysis and the 3,000-use assumption
45:00 What makes Melissa hopeful

References mentioned:
Green Surgery report (UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, 2023): https://ukhealthalliance.org/sustainable-healthcare/green-surgery-report/
Cliff Goodman, HTA 101: Introduction to Health Technology Assessment: https://www.inahta.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/HTA-101_Goodman_2004.pdf
HTAi Environmental Sustainability in HTA (ESHTA) Working Group: https://htai.org/engage-with-us/working-groups/htai-eshta/
Toward including environmental sustainability in HTA (Cambridge, IJTAHC): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-technology-assessment-in-health-care/article/toward-including-environmental-sustainability-in-health-technology-assessment/2FF6BA84AC3E7FB280DA2DF3F17D6130
Environmental sustainability in diabetes (Cambridge, IJTAHC): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-technology-assessment-in-health-care/article/environmental-sustainability-in-diabetes-improving-the-quality-of-diabetes-management-through-hta-and-systemlevel-change/E9B3804A2EB373D31752F6A2587C084A
How Can HTA Shape a More Sustainable Future for Healthcare? (YHEC): https://www.yhec.co.uk/resource/how-can-hta-shape-healthcare-sustainability/
Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG): https://shtg.scot/
NICE: https://www.nice.org.uk/

Links:
Melissa Pegg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissapegg1/
Melissa's email: melissa.pegg@york.ac.uk
Melissa's publications (YHEC Environmental Impact): https://www.yhec.co.uk/what-we-do/environmental-impact/
York Health Economics Consortium: https://www.yhec.co.uk/

You might also enjoy:
Episode 103, LCA in Surgery and Specialty-Level Carbon Literacy with Anna Roe Rasmussen: https://carepathwayconsulting.com/podcast/podcast-episode-103/

Host links:
Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com

"HTA is a gatekeeper. The opportunity right now is to get environmental data into HTA and report it alongside everything else, without yet expecting agencies to act on it. That alone would be a huge step forward." - Melissa Pegg

How do you cut 40% of the carbon out of a clinical trial without changing the price? You rent the equipment instead of buying it.

In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, part of our mini-series with the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition's Community of Practice for Clinical Trials, Frederik Dam van Deurs speaks with Alejandra Medina, Chief Sustainability Officer at Quipment, the French, B Corp-certified provider of equipment solutions for clinical trials.

About the guest: Alejandra Medina is Chief Sustainability Officer at Quipment SAS, a Nancy-based company founded in 2010 that equips and maintains clinical trial sites across 110+ countries. She joined as quality director and led Quipment through its B Corp certification.

Three things you'll take away:

• An equipment-rental ("equipment-as-a-service") model is circular by design: returning, reprocessing and redeploying devices keeps them in near-constant use across the value chain.
• - Quipment's benchmark, built for B Corp certification, shows a 40% carbon-footprint reduction moving from a linear to a circular model, comparable to the saving the Sustainable Markets Initiative estimates from more digital trials.
• - The real bottleneck for circularity isn't the technology, it's convincing the actors in the trial supply chain that circular is just as safe, compliant and high-performance as linear.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:00 Meet Alejandra: from Mexico to Nancy
03:00 What Quipment does: equipping and maintaining trial sites
05:00 The portfolio: ECGs, infusion pumps, data loggers and 3,000+ products
07:00 Becoming a B Corp: how the assessment revealed a circular model
09:00 Circular by design: rent, return, reprocess, redeploy
13:00 Where circularity breaks down in clinical trials
16:00 The cost question: services at the same price
18:00 Informing the choice: tools over mandates
19:00 The Quipment Carbon Compass: a comparator, not a calculator
20:00 40% carbon reduction, linear vs circular
23:00 The new seven-pillar B Corp standard
25:00 What gives Alejandra hope

References and links:
Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, Community of Practice for Clinical Trials: https://shcoalition.org/sustainable-clinical-trials-knowledge-hub/
B Corp certification (B Lab): https://www.bcorporation.net/
Quipment B Corp profile: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/quipment-sas/
Alejandra Medina on LinkedIn: https://fr.linkedin.com/in/alejandra-medina-3315185
Quipment: https://www.quipment.com/

You might also enjoy:
Episode 102, Sustainable Clinical Trials (1): Convien & myoncare with Christian Hieronimi: https://carepathwayconsulting.com/podcast/podcast-episode-102/

Host links:
Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com

"Quipment Carbon Compass isn't a calculator, it's a comparator. We didn't change anything; we just changed the way we explain our business. We were circular by design from the beginning." - Alejandra Medina

Structured Material Selection: Building Sustainable Medical Devices with Plastics
How do you make a medical device more sustainable without blowing up the business case? Lucas Pianegonda breaks down the structured way to choose plastics, and why the first win is usually deleting a requirement, not changing a material.


ABOUT THE GUEST
Lucas R. Pianegonda is founder and lead plastic expert at Gradical (Switzerland), a consultancy that helps medtech companies select materials that are technically sound, compliant, and lower-footprint. Material scientist by training, he also hosts the podcast now called MedTech Sustainability by Design.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Over-requirement is the biggest hidden source of cost and carbon. Challenge every "must be medical grade" before you reach for a greener material.
- The plastic pyramid: moving down from high-performance plastics (PEEK) to engineering or commodity grades, where the part allows, cuts footprint and cost at once. Twenty years ago we just called it optimising.
- You don't need a 50,000 euro LCA to decide. A rough Excel or OpenLCA estimate gets you within ~20-25%. The certified LCA is for making public claims, which the EU's Empowering Consumers Directive now requires you to back with data.
TIMESTAMPS (adjust to audio)
00:00 - Intro and Lucas's path into materials
04:00 - Four forces driving sustainability in medtech
12:00 - Why SME device makers struggle to specialise
18:00 - Structured material selection and the value analysis
24:00 - The plastic pyramid and downgrading
30:00 - Rough vs. certified LCA, and what an LCA really costs
38:00 - Selling sustainability: the commercial translation gap
REFERENCES
- OpenLCA, free life cycle assessment software: https://www.openlca.org
- Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/825 (applies from 27 September 2026)
- Pharmapack Europe: https://www.pharmapackeurope.com
- Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): https://sciencebasedtargets.org
- Lucas's podcast, MedTech Sustainability by Design: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2389989
LINKS
- Lucas R. Pianegonda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-r-pianegonda-81142b110/
- Gradical: https://gradical.ch
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY
- Episode 096 - Recycling pharmaceutical transport packaging, with Arne Kloke (SCHOTT Pharma)
- Episode 097 - Visualizing Circular Healthcare: A Taxonomy for Sustainable Medical Device Flows, with Tamara Hoveling (TU Delft)
HOSTED BY
- Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
- Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
- Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com
"Sustainability can't be a strategic advantage if you can't sell the device." - Lucas Pianegonda

What if the plastic waste from a hospital's clinical areas could come back as the ID card holders every nurse and doctor wears every day? That is what SMALLrevolution is doing, and it is one of the more elegant circular economy stories I have come across in healthcare. About the guest: Arendse Ekegren Baggesen is the Founder of SMALLrevolution, a Danish design-to-manufacturing company that collects plastic waste from hospitals, municipalities, and companies, transforms it into recycled raw material, and produces furniture and functional products that go back to the original waste producer. Three key takeaways:

• According to Arendse, only 8-10% of plastic collected in Denmark is actually recycled. Sorting quality in the waste stream, not collection, is the primary bottleneck.
• SMALLrevolution's closed-loop model: they collect a facility's waste, produce products from it, and return those products to the same facility, along with full LCA and ESG data.
• According to Arendse, producing one kilo of virgin plastic requires two kilos of crude oil. Redirecting to recycled material reduces both CO2 emissions (around 30% vs. virgin plastic, based on SMALLrevolution's own LCAs) and crude oil demand.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction and origins of SMALLrevolution
• 02:00 - Why recycled plastic for outdoor furniture?
• 05:00 - Finding the first factory willing to work with household plastic waste
• 07:00 - How COVID pivoted SMALLrevolution from B2C to B2B
• 08:00 - The closed-loop model: collect, produce, return
• 09:00 - LCAs and ESG data on every product
• 10:00 - What actually happens to plastic in the "normal" waste stream?
• 12:00 - Why sorting quality, not collection, is the real bottleneck
• 14:00 - How hospitals can get started: two live case studies
• 18:00 - The "not another bucket" problem in surgical theatres
• 21:00 - CO2 impact: around 30% reduction vs. virgin plastic (based on SMALLrevolution's own LCAs)
• 23:00 - According to Arendse: 2 kg of crude oil per 1 kg of plastic, and what that means for resource resilience

Pull quote: "All vases in the world should be produced in a recycled material. There is demand, and there is a lot of waste, so why not connect those two dots?" Contact Arendse:
Website: smallrevolution.dk
LinkedIn: Arendse Ekegren Baggesen You might also enjoy:
Episode 088: Circular Material Flow of Medication in the Intensive Care Unit (Nicole Hunfeld, Erasmus UMC)
Episode 074: The Future of Reprocessing in Healthcare (Lars Thording, Innovative Health)
Episode 096: Recycling Pharmaceutical Transport Packaging (Arne Kloke, SCHOTT Pharma)

What happens when a doctor applies the rigour of clinical research to the carbon footprint of surgery?

In this episode, Frederik speaks with Anna Roe Rasmussen, MD, MSc Health Policy — a scientific researcher at the Regional Unit for the Green Transition in Region Zealand.

Anna recently defended her PhD at the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark, where she applied lifecycle assessment (LCA) to total hip replacement surgery, working towards the integration of environmental impact into clinical decision-making.

About Anna:
Anna has spent over a decade at the intersection of climate and health — as a co-founder of Doctors for Climate Denmark (Læger for Klimaet), as part of the working group that drafted the Danish Medical Association's climate and health policy (published 2022), and as a scientific researcher applying LCA methodology to surgical care pathways.

Three things you'll take away:

• Why the field needs to distinguish more clearly between carbon footprint screenings and full ISO-compliant LCAs — and what gets lost when clinicians can't tell the difference.
• Why specialty-level carbon literacy is the missing link between organisational sustainability targets and meaningful action on the ground in clinical departments.
• Why acting — finding someone to act with — is Anna's personal antidote to climate anxiety.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 03:00 — Anna's PhD: applying LCA to total hip replacement surgery
• 08:00 — From medical student at COP to co-founding Doctors for Climate Denmark
• 10:00 — The Danish Medical Association's 2022 climate and health policy
• 13:00 — A passionate but fragmented global movement of healthcare workers
• 17:00 — The publication explosion in healthcare LCA — and why quality must keep pace
• 21:00 — Carbon screening vs. ISO-compliant LCA: the precision vs. direction trade-off
• 27:00 — Specialty-level carbon literacy as the next step for healthcare decarbonisation
• 33:00 — Carbon budgets and financial budgets: an uncomfortable but necessary analogy
• 38:00 — The hard conversations healthcare systems avoid
• 41:00 — What makes Anna hopeful: engaged colleagues and the power of acting together

References and links mentioned:

• ISO 14040/14044 standards for lifecycle assessment (see iso.org)
• DTU Centre for Absolute Sustainability
• Doctors for Climate Denmark / Læger for Klimaet — Facebook [Joachim/Frederik: add official website if available]
• Danish Medical Association climate and health policy 2022 [Frederik: add direct link]
• International Federation of Medical Students' Associations: ifmsa.org

Guest links:

• Anna Roe Rasmussen on LinkedIn
• Sjællands Universitetshospital
• DTU Centre for Absolute Sustainability

You might also enjoy:

• Episode 097: Visualising Circular Healthcare — Tamara Hoveling (TU Delft) on LCA methodology in healthcare
• Episode 101: Sustainable Healthcare: Implementation and Hope — Maria Gaden
• Episode 088: Circular Material Flow in the ICU — Nicole Hunfeld (Erasmus UMC)

[Episode Spotify/platform links to be added by Frederik] Hosts:

• Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn
• Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn
• Care Pathway Consulting

Pull quote: "If you want to do something — act. And find someone to do it with. That's always both more fun and more productive." — Anna Roe Rasmussen

The first episode of our Sustainable Clinical Trials mini-series, produced in partnership with the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC), following up on the Community of Practice conference in London on 4 November 2025. Each episode brings one of the CoP speakers back to share their story in long form.
 
GUEST
Christian Hieronimi, Founder & CEO of ONCARE (myoncare) and co-founder of Convien. A serial healthcare entrepreneur based in Munich, with previous exits to Elekta (Medical Intelligence) and Varian (humediq).
 
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• How Convien's meeting-point optimiser can cut around 30 to 35% of travel cost and 40% of the CO2 footprint of investigator meetings, by jointly optimising ticket price, travel time and carbon per kilogram.
• Why roughly half of corporate travel spend in international organisations is driven by meetings, not customer visits, and why that makes meetings the biggest under-addressed decarbonisation lever in clinical operations.
• How myoncare uses wearable data, symptom questionnaires and guideline-based thresholds to "fill the void" between doctor visits, and how the same platform can decentralise a trial by routing blood work, imaging and eligibility checks to local providers.

 
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction by Nathalie Preiswerk (Sustainable Healthcare Coalition) and series framing
02:00 Meet Christian: serial founder, robotics and oncology background
03:30 Convien origin story: Beijing vs. Barcelona, 2010
06:00 The three-variable optimisation: cost, time, carbon
10:00 How big is the meetings prize inside corporate travel
11:00 Applying Convien to investigator meetings and site selection
13:00 Introducing myoncare: a care orchestration platform
16:00 A chronic kidney disease use case, end to end
20:00 Decentralised trials: bringing the site to the patient
22:00 Bring-your-own-device and the International Patient Summary
25:00 Care pathways that trigger the next step automatically
 
REFERENCES MENTIONED

• Sustainable Healthcare Coalition Community of Practice conference (London, 4 Nov 2025): https://shcoalition.org/cop-conference/
• SHC Sustainable Clinical Trials Knowledge Hub: https://shcoalition.org/sustainable-clinical-trials-knowledge-hub/
• Convien Smart Meeting Location Planner: https://www.convien.com/
• myoncare Virtual coordinated care: https://www.myoncare.com/
• Convien Meeting Point Optimiser (Siemens partnership, Microsoft AppSource): https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/product/office/wa200001588
• EU MDR 2017/745 (myoncare is classified as MDR Class IIa)
• International Patient Summary (ISO 27269)

 
CONNECT WITH THE GUEST

• Christian Hieronimi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-hieronimi-066a394/
• ONCARE / myoncare: https://www.myoncare.com/
• Convien GmbH: https://www.convien.com/

 
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY

• 091 SHC: the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (Fiona Adshead, Keith Moore, Nathalie Preiswerk), the backstory to this mini-series.
• 089 Koen Kas on transforming healthcare and clinical trials, another conversation on reimagining the trial operating model.
• 083 Sustainability requirements in public procurement, relevant if you are thinking about where the buy-side pressure lands.

 
HOSTS

• Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
• Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
• Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com

 
PULL QUOTE
"In between two doctor's visits, nobody looks after the patient, because the patient's pretty much invisible. We are filling up that void." Christian Hieronimi
 
Produced in partnership with the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition.

Why do hospitals with good data, proven cases and clear economics still fail to implement sustainability solutions at scale?

That is the question Maria Gaden is spending three years answering.

Maria returns to the podcast as Chief of Development at Center for Sustainable Hospitals in Central Denmark Region, and as a public industrial PhD student at the University of Copenhagen's Globe Institute. Her research is in implementation science: what actually determines whether a sustainability intervention gets adopted across a whole hospital - not just one passionate department.

In this conversation, Frederik and Maria cover:

- Why the reusable surgical gown project has not yet launched and why she still calls it a success
- Moving from "heroes" to systems, and from passion to governance
- 38 hospital interviews across Denmark, a trip to Karolinska Institutet, and a visit to Singapore's Centre for Sustainable Medicine
- How to start if you work inside a hospital and how it differs if you sit inside pharma
- Why human irrationality is the real implementation barrier, and what to do about it

**Timestamps**
00:00  Welcome back
01:30 New title, new PhD
02:30 The reusable textiles project update
07:30 Heroes to systems, passion to governance
09:00 Why implementation science
13:30 The research: 38 interviews, four countries
17:30 Rationality is not the main driver
22:30 Advice for healthcare professionals
29:30 Advice for pharma and medtech
38:30 What gives Maria hope

**Pull quote (Maria):** *"We know the solutions. We have the data. So what is really hindering implementation right now? That is what I keep asking."*

**References and links from the episode**

- [Center for Sustainable Hospitals, Central Denmark Region](https://www.rm.dk/om-os/organisation/center-for-baeredygtige-hospitaler/) [URL to confirm]
- [Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen](https://globe.ku.dk/)
- [Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH)](https://greenhospitals.org/)  free to join; hosted by Health Care Without Harm
- [Health Care Without Harm  Europe](https://europe.noharm.org/)
- [Centre for Sustainable Medicine, NUS Singapore](https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/cosm/)
- [Karolinska Institutet](https://ki.se/en)
- [*Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality* (free online)](https://hpmor.com/)  referenced by Frederik

**Connect with Maria**

- [Maria Gaden on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariagaden/)
- [Center for Sustainable Hospitals](https://www.rm.dk/om-os/organisation/center-for-baeredygtige-hospitaler/) [URL to confirm]

**You might also enjoy:**

- Episode 090 — *Data-Driven Decarbonisation of Danish Hospitals* (Rasmus & Thea, Region Midt)
- Episode 087/086 — *Sustainability insights from 290 nurses and clinicians* (Michael Maagaard, Region Midt)
- Episode 044 & 043 — Maria Gaden's previous appearances on the show

**Host links**

- [Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/)
- [Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/)
- [Care Pathway Consulting](https://carepathwayconsulting.com)
 

Liz Willetts has spent 20 years at the intersection of nature and health.

In this conversation, she explains why nearly 200 governments have been asking for integrated biodiversity-health indicators for over a decade, and why the scientific community still hasn't delivered them. About the guest: Liz Willetts is a science-policy expert on global governance of the health-environment nexus.

She has served as Planetary Health Policy Director at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, science-policy advisor to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and is a Team Leader, Editor and Writer at IISD's Earth Negotiations Bulletin. She is also a primary care clinician with experience in Micronesia, Central America, and the US. Key takeaways:

• 196 countries have called for biodiversity-health metrics through the Convention on Biological Diversity for decades, but the health and environmental science communities remain siloed, and integrated indicators still don't exist
• Even senior clinicians with 10+ years of experience may not know how to define "biodiversity", pointing to a fundamental gap in medical education
• The post-consumption lifecycle of pharmaceuticals, what happens when drugs exit patients and enter wastewater, represents a massive blind spot in both environmental monitoring and clinical training

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction and Liz's background
03:00 - How environmental decisions are public health decisions
08:00 - Air quality policy as a biodiversity example (Copenhagen low emission zones)
12:00 - The decade-long gap: governments asking for indicators nobody has built
18:00 - The grand rounds anecdote: a clinician who didn't know "biodiversity"
22:00 - Plant blindness and the siloing of scientific education
26:00 - Chronic kidney disease carbon footprint and biodiversity
30:00 - Practical advice for national biodiversity-health strategies
36:00 - Held v. State of Montana: climate litigation as a model for ecosystem values
42:00 - The nature footprint of healthcare: a blank canvas
46:00 - Pharmaceutical pollution and the end-of-life gap
50:00 - What gives Liz hope References mentioned:

• Liz Willetts, "Metrics for Biodiversity and Health Policy Integration," PLOS Global Public Health, 2025: PubMed
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022)
• Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, adopted at CBD COP16 (2024)
• Held v. State of Montana: Climate Case Chart
• Plant blindness (academic concept): Literature review 1999-2024
• Pharma Pollution Hub / Kelly Thornber: pharmapollution.org
• Global Biodiversity Framework: https://www.cbd.int/gbf
• Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health:
  https://www.cbd.int/health/GAP.shtml

Links:

• Liz Willetts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-willetts-2336749/
• IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin: https://enb.iisd.org/
• Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-espeland-almdal-017a6973/
• Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvandeurs/
• Care Pathway Consulting: https://carepathwayconsulting.com

You might also enjoy:

• Episode 092: Planetary Boundaries & Health with Mia Heide (WELA)
• Episode 098: Tackling Pharmaceutical Pollution: A Systems-Based Approach
• Episodes 023/024: The Biodiversity Crisis in Healthcare (two-parter)

Meeting Pharma's Rising Sustainability Demands:
Marwin Krull on Körber Pharma and the Alliance to Zero Marwin Krull is Sustainability Lead for the Pharma business area at Körber Pharma and Vice President of the Alliance to Zero. He explains how pharma customer requests have evolved from broad questions about EcoVadis scores and green electricity to specific demands around product carbon footprints, SBTi alignment, CDP thresholds, and ISO-based LCAs. Key takeaways:

• Pharma sustainability demands have matured fast - customers now ask for verified GHG inventories and product-level carbon footprints, not just policies
• Closing the gap between group sustainability strategy and day-to-day operations requires internal coordination, sales enablement, and e-learning - not just a target
• The Alliance to Zero (founded 2021) is driving practical collaboration across the autoinjector value chain, including a syringe packaging redesign and "green premium" transparency research with TU Hamburg

Timestamps:
00:00 - Customer sustainability pressure
00:37 - Meet Marwin Krull and his roles
03:35 - How customer demands evolved
07:13 - What Körber Pharma does
10:21 - Inside the sustainability role
14:58 - Sales enablement and training
18:05 - What is Alliance to Zero
21:30 - Collaboration wins and research
25:33 - Practical advice and wrap-up
Links: Marwin Krull on LinkedIn | Alliance to Zero | Körber Pharma Hosts: Joachim Almdal on LinkedIn | Frederik van Deurs on LinkedIn | Care Pathway Consulting "Customers went from asking 'do you have green electricity?' to asking for ISO-verified product carbon footprints in just a few years." - Marwin Krull

Tackling Pharmaceutical Pollution: A Systems-Based Approach

In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, host Frederik Dam van Deurs welcomes Kelly Thornber, a researcher and advocate for addressing pharmaceutical pollution. Kelly shares her journey from working in Bangladesh to identifying pharmaceutical pollution as a global issue, and discusses the systems-based approach needed to mitigate its risks to public and environmental health.

Episode Summary
Kelly Thornber discusses the complexity of pharmaceutical pollution and the need for a systems-based strategy to address it. She highlights the importance of understanding the entire lifecycle of pharmaceuticals, from manufacture to disposal, and the role of various stakeholders in creating a sustainable solution.

Key Topics Covered

1. Introduction to Kelly Thornber:
   • Kelly discusses her background and how she became interested in pharmaceutical pollution while working in Bangladesh.
   • Her journey into sustainability and how her department is driving change within the company.
     
     
2. Understanding Pharmaceutical Pollution:
   • The importance of addressing pharmaceutical pollution and its impact on public and environmental health.
   • The complexity of the pharmaceutical system and the need for a systems-based approach to mitigate risks.
     
     
3. The Role of the Pharma Pollution Hub:
   • Kelly’s work with the Pharma Pollution Hub and their efforts to advocate for changes in the pharmaceutical industry.
   • The need for independent facilitation and oversight to drive meaningful change.
     
     
4. Identifying Intervention Points:
   • The 37 intervention points identified in Kelly’s paper and the importance of starting with actionable steps.
   • The role of stakeholders in implementing these interventions and the need for collaboration.

Notable Quotes

• "Pharmaceuticals are designed to be biologically active, and that means they can have physiological effects in non-target species." - Kelly Thornber
• "We need to take a systems approach to address the complex issue of pharmaceutical pollution." - Kelly Thornber

Resources Mentioned

• Pharma Pollution Hub: Pharma Pollution Hub Website
• Pharmaceutical Pollution Paper: Read the Paper

Call to Action

• Share your thoughts: What role should the pharmaceutical industry play in addressing pollution? Connect with Frederik on LinkedIn to share your insights.
• Subscribe and Share: Help spread the word about sustainable healthcare by subscribing to the podcast and sharing this episode with your network.

Host: Frederik Dam van Deurs Guest: Kelly Thornber, Researcher and Advocate for Pharmaceutical Pollution

Guest: Tamara, PhD Candidate at TU Delft, Department of Sustainable Design Engineering

Episode Summary In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, host Frederik Dam van Deurs welcomes Tamara, a researcher and entrepreneur specializing in circular economy principles for healthcare. Tamara shares her groundbreaking work on the Visual Taxonomy of Circular Healthcare Flows (CHF), a comprehensive map designed to guide sustainable decision-making for medical devices from design to end-of-life. Key Topics Covered

1. The Visual Taxonomy of Circular Healthcare Flows
   • Tamara introduces her visual taxonomy, which maps out circular economy strategies for medical devices. The taxonomy is designed to clarify the often-confusing terminology (e.g., "reuse" vs. "recycling") and provide actionable pathways for sustainability.
   • Visual Reference: Visual Taxonomy of Circular Healthcare Flows (CHF)
     
     
2. Misconceptions in Circular Economy Terminology
   • Tamara highlights common misunderstandings, such as the difference between "reuse" and "recycling," and the healthcare-specific term "reprocessing." She emphasizes the importance of clarity in communication to avoid unintended environmental impacts.
     
     
3. Real-World Example: Laparoscopic Stapler
   • Using a laparoscopic stapler as a case study, Tamara walks through the taxonomy’s steps: Refuse (questioning the need for the device), Rethink (designing multifunctional devices), Reduce (minimizing material use), and Reuse/Recycle (extending product life through maintenance, repair, or reprocessing).
     
     
4. Barriers to Circularity in Healthcare
   • Perceived vs. Actual Safety: The tendency to prioritize perceived safety over evidence-based sustainability, leading to overuse of single-use devices and excessive waste.
   • Logistical Challenges: The complexity of sorting and collecting devices, especially in hospitals with limited space and resources.
   • Regulatory Hurdles: Differences in regulations between the EU and the US, such as the reprocessing of single-use devices.
     
     
5. Innovations and Hope for the Future
   • Tamara shares her work on a patient-friendly alternative to the traditional vaginal speculum, designed to reduce pain and improve accessibility. She also discusses her optimism about collaborations among medical device manufacturers to drive systemic change.

Notable Quotes

• "The number one barrier is the difference between actual safety and perceived safety. People want to do well in healthcare, but this can lead to unintended environmental consequences."
• "We need to ask: Do we really need this device? Can we refuse, rethink, or reduce before we even start producing?"
• "Sterilization is not always necessary - sometimes high-level disinfection is enough, and that can significantly reduce environmental impact."

Resources Mentioned

• Visual Taxonomy of Circular Healthcare Flows (CHF): View the Visual

Call to Action

• Share your thoughts: What circular economy strategies have you seen in healthcare? Connect with Frederik on LinkedIn to share your insights.

• Subscribe and Share: Help spread the word about sustainable healthcare by subscribing to the podcast and sharing this episode with your network.

Host: Frederik Dam van Deurs Guest: Tamara, PhD Candidate, TU Delft

Join Joachim and guest Arne Kloke, Head of Service & Sustainability Management at SCHOTT Pharma and President of Alliance to Zero
.
They explore practical examples of using recycled materials in pharma inclduing a case with Takeda and Pfizer and the real barriers to circularity, and what the new EU Circular Economy Act could mean for the industry.
You’ll hear concrete insights on device design, waste streams, collaboration models, and how the next wave of sustainable packaging is being built.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction to quality management in pharma
01:12 – Welcome to the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast
01:21 – Meet Arne Clark: sustainability journey
01:40 – Challenges and innovations in pharma sustainability
02:54 – Personal insights and hobbies
03:45 – Hope and collaboration in sustainability
05:30 – Why sustainable practices matter
06:30 – SCHOTT Pharma’s role in sustainability
09:45 – Recycling and circular economy in pharma
14:03 – Scaling sustainable solutions
21:09 – Challenges in waste management and recycling
30:29 – Alliance to Zero and the EU Circular Economy Act
36:29 – Conclusion and call to action

Developmental prosopagnosia – also known as face blindness – affects an estimated 1–3% of the population, yet most people have never heard of it.

In this special episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, Frederik steps into the role of patient and speaks with psychologist and researcher Erling Nørkær about his own recent condition discovery and what it means to live in a world where faces don’t reliably “stick.”

Together, Frederik and Erling unpack:

• What developmental prosopagnosia is – and how it differs from simply being “bad with names”
  
  
• How face recognition normally works in the brain, and what seems to go wrong in prosopagnosia
  
  
• The social and emotional consequences: fear of seeming rude, anxiety in crowds, and why modern life makes the condition harder to live with
  
  
• Practical coping strategies and how people learn to rely on clothing, context, voice, and other cues instead of faces
  
  
• Why prosopagnosia is not yet a formal diagnosis, and what that means for patients
  
  
• Current research efforts, including studies of infants of parents with prosopagnosia, and what this might reveal about early development and future interventions

It’s a deeply personal conversation about neurodivergence, identity, and how better language and awareness can make everyday life less stressful for people with face blindness – in schools, workplaces, and healthcare.

About our guest
Erling Nørkær is a psychologist, PhD, and researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, specializing in developmental prosopagnosia – the reduced or absent ability to recognize faces.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erling-n%C3%B8rk%C3%A6r-0558a11b8/
  
  
• Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab (CopNL): https://psychology.ku.dk/research/research_groups/copnl/
  
  
• Research profile: https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/persons/erling-n%C3%B8rk%C3%A6r/

The Power of Movement:

Why Exercise is Essential for Health In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, host Joachim Almdal welcomes Anders Nedergaard, an expert in muscle biology and health coaching. Anders shares his insights on the importance of physical activity, the impact of modern lifestyles on health, and how exercise can be integrated into healthcare systems to promote sustainability.


Episode Summary
Anders Nedergaard, with a PhD in muscle biology, discusses the critical role of physical activity in maintaining health and preventing disease. He highlights the benefits of exercise, from improving cardiometabolic health to reducing inflammation, and explores the societal changes that have led to decreased physical activity levels.

Key Topics Covered

1. The Benefits of Exercise:
   • Anders explains how physical activity normalizes and stabilizes physiological homeostasis, including blood sugar regulation, lipid levels, blood pressure, and mood.
   • The importance of maintaining a high oxygen uptake to counter the negative effects of being overweight or obese.
2. Modern Lifestyles and Health:
   • The impact of inactivity and caloric surplus on health outcomes.
   • The paradox of occupational vs. recreational physical activity and their different effects on health.
3. Exercise Dosage and Health Outcomes:
   • The relationship between various doses of exercise and health outcomes, including mortality and morbidity.
   • The concept of "involuntary physical activity abstinence" and how it affects public health.
4. Integrating Exercise into Healthcare:
   • The potential for exercise to reduce healthcare emissions by preventing intensive care needs.
   • The challenges and opportunities of incorporating exercise into healthcare systems.

Notable Quotes

• "Physical activity in general normalizes and stabilizes all kinds of physiological homeostasis." - Anders Nedergaard
• "The real big difference is when you go from zero to something." - Anders Nedergaard

Planetary boundaries, wellbeing & healthcare with Mia Heide (WELA)

What does it actually mean for human health that we’ve now exceeded 7 out of 9 planetary boundaries – up from 6 out of 9 in 2023 – and how should healthcare systems respond? 

In this episode, we're joined by Mia Heide, engineer and researcher at WELA – Wellbeing Economy Lab, to unpack the latest science and what it implies for policy, practice, and care pathways. Sustainable Healthcare Podcast …

We talk about:

• What the planetary boundaries framework is – and why it’s about hard limits, not “nice-to-have” goals
• The new 2025 assessment showing we’ve transgressed 7/9 boundaries, and what changed since 2023
  
  
• How to downscale planetary boundaries to a country level (e.g. Denmark) using different sharing principles – equal per capita, capacity to reduce, historical responsibility, and “grandfathering” 
  
  
• Why some principles give wealthy countries like Denmark a negative carbon budget, and why “equal” is not the same as “fair”
  
  
• The concept of decent living standards – what’s the minimum energy and material footprint needed to secure basic human needs globally? 
  
  
• Health impacts of specific boundaries once we overshoot them, including:
  • Climate change: extreme weather, heat stress, displacement and food security
  • Freshwater change: water scarcity, sanitation breakdown, conflict risk
  • Novel entities (PFAS, microplastics, synthetic chemicals): cancer risk, hormone disruption, fertility impacts – and why this is hugely under-discussed in public health 
    
    
• The uncomfortable paradox: we need to meet basic needs and stay within limits – and every tonne of CO₂ still counts
  
  
• Why healthcare decarbonisation must be seen in a two-way relationship:
  • Healthcare activities impact planetary boundaries
  • Overshooting those boundaries, in turn, undermines population health and health system resilience
    
    
• Where Mia still finds motivation and drive in 2025 – and why “a different world is possible” is not just a slogan

About our guest – Mia Heide & WELA
Mia Heide is an engineer and researcher at WELA – Wellbeing Economy Lab, a Danish, independent think tank working for a wellbeing economy where societal progress is measured by the ability to create good lives for all within planetary boundaries – now and for future generations.

Resources & links mentioned

• Mia’s working paper (in Danish)
  “Trivsel inden for de planetære grænser” – WELA working paper on planetary boundaries, wellbeing and health
  👉 WELA publications page: https://www.wellbeingeconomylab.com/udgivelser
• Decent living standards & minimum energy
  Millward-Hopkins et al. (2020): “Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario”
  👉 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307512
• Planetary boundaries & latest assessments
  • Richardson et al. (2023) – updated assessment of the planetary boundaries (Stockholm Resilience Centre)
  • Planetary Health Check 2025 – Executive Summary (global status update)
    👉 https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/PlanetaryHealthCheck2025_ExecutiveSummary.pdf

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a colleague, rate the show, or suggest future guests – it really helps us bring more voices like Mia’s into the sustainable healthcare conversation.

Show Notes — Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC): From Care Pathways to Greener Clinical Trials Guests:

• Fiona — Chair, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC)
• Keith Moore — Programme Coordinator, SHC
• Natalie — Community of Practice Moderator, SHC

Host: Frederik Dam van Deurs (Green Innovation Group & Care Pathway Consulting) Episode in a nutshell We sit down with the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC) to unpack what it really takes to decarbonize healthcare—both at the level of everyday care pathways and the specialized world of clinical trials. We cover SHC’s origin story with the NHS, why scope 3 (supply chain) matters, how SHC evolved into a not-for-profit platform connecting public and private actors, and the tools and frameworks helping systems act now. Natalie also previews the first in-person conference of the Sustainable Clinical Trials – Community of Practice in London on 4 November 2025—a highly interactive day shaping the community’s 2026 agenda. What we cover

• SHC origin & mission: From a UK roundtable (2011) to a global, not-for-profit platform bridging health systems and industry on sustainability.
• Why scope 3 is the big lever: Pharma and med-tech footprints, and how collaborative forums beat procurement-only dialogues.
• Three universal priorities for greener care:
  1. Shift care closer to the patient,
  2. Use digital tools to empower patients and providers,
  3. Double down on prevention.
• Prevention in practice: Partnering with people, designing prevention into systems (e.g., vaccination, slowing CKD progression), and supporting self-management (e.g., smart inhalers).
• Care pathways vs. clinical trials: Why trials deserve their own framework (CROs, labs, regulators, logistics) even if they mirror care pathways.
• Where trial emissions often sit: Participant travel, site/monitor travel, labs, and investigational product logistics—plus the promise (and limits) of decentralization.
• Start here: Assess your own trial portfolio and therapeutic areas—hotspots and best levers vary with the carbon intensity of the product/API and trial design.
• Hope, pragmatism & momentum: System optimization saves costs and resources and cuts CO₂e—progress doesn’t have to feel like sacrifice.

Key takeaways

• Systems thinking wins: Cross-sector collaboration is essential; no single stakeholder can decarbonize healthcare alone.
• Measure to move: Practical calculators and worked examples help teams find hotspots and act fast.
• Prevention is premium care: The most sustainable pathway is the one where patients don’t get sick—but it requires genuine partnership with people.

Memorable moments

• “The most sustainable patient journey is the one where the patient never gets sick.”
• “Clinical trials are like care pathways with extra moving parts—CROs, labs, ethics, regulators—so they need their own rulebook.”
• “Even if climate isn’t your prime driver, system optimization cuts waste and saves money—why wouldn’t you do it?”

Links & resources

• SHC COP Conference (London, 4 Nov 2025): shcoalition.org/cop-conference/
• Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (main site): shcoalition.org
• LinkedIn Group – Sustainable Clinical Trials: Community of Practice: linkedin.com/groups/13149469/

Data-Driven Decarbonization of Danish Hospitals — with Rasmus & Thea Summary

How do Denmark’s regions actually use data to steer the green transition in hospitals—and what does it change on the ground?

In this episode, Rasmus (Region Midtjylland) and Thea (Region Syddanmark) unpack why procurement dominates the footprint in Denmark, how a “climate management model” guides reductions, and what happens when you move from single-use to multi-use—or simply stop buying low-value items altogether.

We also touch on tricky boundary topics like ambulances (listen to the deep dive we did with David from falck in episode 056), staff/patient transport, and why energy is a smaller lever in Denmark than in many other countries.

Guests:

• Rasmus — Center for Sustainable Hospitals, Central Denmark Region (Region Midtjylland). Builds the sustainability data system and evaluates environmental impacts of change projects.
• Thea — Region of Southern Denmark (Region Syddanmark). Leads carbon baseline work and helps prioritize, start, and track decarbonization projects.

What we cover

• Why procurement (the “stuff we buy”) is the main lever in Danish hospitals
• Energy & transport in Denmark: why grid mix and modern buildings downplay energy, and what’s in/out of scope on transport
• The Climate Management Model: back-casting to net-zero and allocating reductions across strategies
• The reduction hierarchy in practice: avoid → switch to multi-use → supplier requirements
• A simple starter win: phasing out disposable exam table paper (“lejepapir”) and measuring the CO₂ impact
• Change management realities: engaging clinicians and aligning purchasing pathways

Key takeaways

• In Denmark, procurement drives the footprint more than energy or (in-scope) transport.
• Start at the top of the ladder: avoid use where clinically acceptable, then shift to multi-use, then green the supply chain.
• A shared climate management model turns scattered projects into a coherent path to net-zero—and makes results comparable across regions.

Resources (DK)

• Common Sustainability Strategy for Danish Regions – includes the focus on data-driven progress (PDF):
  regioner.dk/media/0mapejdn/en-faellesregional-strategi-for-groenne-hospitaler.pdf
  
  
• Strategy for “Grønne hospitaler” – background, initiatives, and updates:
  regioner.dk/regional-udvikling/groenne-hospitaler/
  
  
• Capital Region video – Klimastyringsmodellen: et værktøj til monitorering og retning (how the climate management model works):
  regionh.dk/til-fagfolk/klima-og-miljoe/groen-omstilling-af-hospitalerne/co2-indsatser…/klimastyringsmodellen-et-vaerktoej-til-monitorering-og-retning.aspx

Prof. Dr. Koen Kas—healthcare futurist and founder of Healthskouts—joins us to explore how “Delight Thinking” and 24/7 digital twins can shift care from reactive sickcare to proactive health.

We unpack real-world models like Best Buy’s at-home monitoring, and how redesigning care and going remote-by-default can also reduce emissions.

Koen dives into N=1 clinical trials, federated learning, and Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid personal data pods—and shares insights from his new book, Epic, on building healthspan and “fullness.”

Check out Koen's work on: 

https://koenkas.com/

Circular Medication Flows in the ICU — What the Data Really Say
Host: Frederik Van Deurs
Guests: Jasper Klasen (Adult Intensive Care, Erasmus MC) and Nicole Hunfeld (Hospital Pharmacy, Erasmus MC)

How much medication and packaging does an ICU actually use—and where does it all end up?

A new study mapped the flows and uncovered practical levers to cut waste without compromising care.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40394680/

https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-025-05434-3

Understanding Clinicians' Perspectives on Sustainability: A Survey Insight

Join Joachim from Green Innovation Group and Michael Maagaard from the Central Danish region as they delve into the findings of a survey on how healthcare workers perceive and act upon sustainability.

They discuss the key themes of motivation, shared responsibility, practical roadblocks, and the need for better tools, visibility, and leadership to support sustainable practices in healthcare settings.

00:46 Importance of the Survey

03:59 Survey Findings: Clinicians' Knowledge and Motivation

04:12 Theme 1: Knowledge vs. Action in Sustainability

09:10 Theme 2: Shared Responsibility but Limited Results

21:35 Theme 3: High Motivation Among Staff

26:02 Theme 4: Practical Roadblocks in Implementation

32:55 Theme 5: Missing Links - Tools, Visibility, and Leadership

Driving Sustainable Change in Healthcare: Insights from Michael Maagaard

Join us in this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast with Michael Maagaard from the Center for Sustainable Hospitals in Denmark.

Michael discusses his background in educational psychology and healthcare, the rapid growth of their sustainability center, and their efforts in integrating sustainability within hospital operations. Learn about the challenges and solutions in implementing sustainable practices, the role of collaboration with suppliers, and practical steps to reduce waste and improve outcomes in healthcare.

Key takeaways include the importance of using less, using longer, and using greener in healthcare settings.

00:00 Introduction to the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast
00:29 Meet Michael Mojo: Background and Role
02:09 Center for Sustainable Hospitals: Mission and Growth
04:05 Challenges and Strategies in Sustainability
07:14 Clinicians' Concerns and Hygiene Issues
17:38 Sustainability Agreements and Success Stories
22:32 Collaborations with Suppliers and Industry
32:05 Key Learnings in Change Management
35:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Commercializing Sustainability in Healthcare: Insights from 'The Demand Revolution'

In this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, host Joachim interviews Nicolai Broby Eckert, a senior partner at Simon-Kucher and author of 'The Demand Revolution'. 

They discuss the challenges and opportunities in commercializing sustainability in pharma, MedTech, and healthcare sectors. Nicolai shares key insights from his book, including:

- The importance of affordable green products
- 85% of consumers are on a sustainability journey - you should segment based on this
- Strategic plays companies can adopt to integrate sustainability into their business models. 


00:00 Intro
00:11 Meet Our Guest: Nikolai, Author of 'The Demand Revolution'
00:57 The Disconnect Between CEOs and Consumers on Sustainability
02:56 Consumer Behavior and Sustainability: Key Findings
07:35 Strategic Implications for Companies
10:42 Sustainability in Pharma and MedTech
16:42 The Importance of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement
21:03 The Kodak Moment: Risks and Opportunities
25:35 Innovative Strategies for Sustainability
33:43 Final Thoughts and Where to Find More Information

Join us in this episode with Dr. Reed Omary, professor of radiology and a sustainability advocate, shares his journey toward integrating environmental consciousness into healthcare.

We talk about how sustainability can drive innovation and improve efficiency as well as addressing challenges in healthcare systems, with practical insights for clinicians, administrators, and policymakers.

In this episode you can discover actionable steps to reduce waste, improve outcomes, and make a difference in the fight against climate change.

In this episode, Frederik explores the role of public procurement in decarbonizing the healthcare sector.

He talks about the need for standardized sustainability requirements and shares insights from a survey with buyers across Europe. He also delves into the progress of the pharmaceutical industry and the importance of weighted tender scoring criteria.

Tune in to learn more about the importance of sustainability in healthcare procurement and the need for greater alignment between ambitions and execution.

Discover how companies are setting targets and improving reporting quality, as well as the need for tangible emission reduction.

Join Frederik, Amy, and Chris in this engaging podcast as they delve into the progress and challenges of decarbonizing the healthcare sector.

Explore the potential of telemedicine and the importance of considering the environmental impact of the entire patient care pathway and how to shift focus from reporting to creating tangible results.

Don't miss out on this insightful conversation that highlights the intersection of sustainability and healthcare.

Tune in now!

Join Nick Jenkins from Manufacture 2030 and Frederick Van der from Green Innovation Group as they discuss their work in decarbonizing the healthcare industry.

Learn about how Manufacture 2030 helps large manufacturing brands reduce their carbon footprint through data collection, action plans, and expert partnerships.

Discover the importance of addressing scope three emissions and setting science-based targets.

Be inspired to be a sustainability champion in your organization and explore the wealth of resources available in the sustainability space.

Don't miss this insightful conversation between two industry leaders.

Join Joachim & Clare, the sustainability lead for Boston Scientific's EMEA business, as she discusses the challenges and demands of sustainability in the healthcare industry.

Discover how businesses can meet customer demands for sustainability information, develop commercial teams, and collaborate with healthcare systems.

Gain insights from a sustainability expert and learn how to implement advice effectively.

Find out the importance of collaboration, partnership, and involving commercial teams in decision-making. Don't miss this valuable podcast on sustainable healthcare practices!

Join Clare, the Sustainability Lead for the EMEA region at Boston Scientific, as she discusses the healthcare industry's role in addressing climate change and sustainability.

Discover how healthcare can be part of the solution, the impact of the industry on emissions, and Boston Scientific's commitment to sustainability.

Gain insights into regulatory changes, the commercial landscape, and the innovative changes made by Boston Scientific to reduce emissions and waste.

Don't miss out on this engaging conversation about the importance of sustainability in healthcare.

The role of frontline healthcare workers in driving sustainability change is a vital one.

Join Joachim, Brit, and Mette in this week's podcast episode as they discuss
Discover how the region of North Jutland is integrating sustainability into their strategic framework, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030.

Hear about their successful collaboration with a private laundry service provider to develop reusable protective sheets, reducing single-use waste by 90%.

Gain insights into the challenges of working with private suppliers and the need for a shift in economic thinking.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation on sustainable solutions in healthcare!

Join us on the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast for an enlightening episode featuring Rasmus Revsbeck, a Life Cycle Assessment expert (LCA) from Region Midtjylland!

Today, in the company of Frederik Van Deurs, we embark on a profound journey to address the urgent imperative of decarbonizing the healthcare sector. Did you know it contributes to a substantial 4-6% of global CO2 emissions?

Rasmus unveils a pivotal insight: engaging healthcare professionals in the battle against environmentally harmful practices. Together, we wield the power to catalyze significant sustainability transformations within the sector.

Eager to delve deeper into this transformational discourse? Discover the full episode in the first comment below.

Enjoy!

Join us in this episode of the Sustainable Healthcare podcast as we dive into the decarbonisation of the healthcare sector!

Frederik Van Deurs is hosting a special guest, Gitte Larsen, from Chiesi, the first global pharmaceutical company to achieve a B Corp certification! Chiesi, a family-owned company based in Italy, specializes in respiratory treatments, neonatal care, and rare diseases.

Our guest shares an incredible insight about the B Corp certification, which assesses a company's sustainability and transparency across various areas. Chiesi´s commitment to sustainability includes becoming climate neutral by 2035, driving electric cars, and implementing sustainable practices in their operations.

Enjoy!

Join us in this captivating podcast episode as Frederik Van Deurs sits down with Sebastian Nielsen, CEO, from Slow, the coffee producer that's changing the game with sustainable and regenerative practices!

Slow isn't your run-of-the-mill coffee company. They take coffee production to the next level by growing their beans in forests, creating a haven for wildlife and nurturing soil health.

Sebastian also delves into the pitfalls of conventional coffee production, including deforestation and chemical use. Slow's dedication to making a difference in both Europe and Southeast Asia is nothing short of inspiring.

Ready to be part of the coffee revolution? Tune in to learn more about Slow's remarkable journey and their mission to connect coffee farmers directly with enthusiasts in Europe.

Don't miss out – check out the full episode now!

Enjoy!

In this podcast, Lars Thording and Frederik van Deurs discuss the benefits of reprocessing and remanufacturing in the medical technology industry.

Lars explains how reprocessed devices can significantly reduce costs for hospitals while also decreasing the environmental footprint of healthcare.

They address obstacles to widespread adoption and provide insights into regulatory considerations.

The conversation highlights the potential of reprocessing in reducing costs and environmental impact in the healthcare sector.

With valuable insights from Lars Thording, this podcast offers a compelling discussion on sustainable healthcare practices.

Enjoy.

In this podcast, Addie MacGregor from the Association of British Health Tech Industries discusses the healthcare sector's efforts to decarbonize and the importance of collaboration.

She highlights the role of the NHS in driving sustainability and the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Tune in to learn about the support ABHI provides to its members and the opportunities and challenges in remanufacturing and reusing medical devices.

Stay motivated and join the conversation on accelerating decarbonization in the healthcare sector.

Enjoy.

During the summer, we're revisiting our four greatest hits and most enjoyed podcasts in a Best of 2022 series.

The fourth episode is: 032 - GIG SPECIAL: Case study: Creating circularity & bridging the strategy and execution gap:

How to create a strategy and execution model, making a factory go circular in their production?

In this special episode, Joachim & Frederik take a deep dive on a recent project they’ve worked on with a healthcare company helping them make their production more circular, how to make the analysis a strategy, and how to make the strategy to implementable & executable model.

Enjoy!

Businesses need to factor in the cost of water when investing in water reuse since current savings are relatively low due to the cheap price of water.

In this podcast, Frederik van Deurs is joined by Simon Husum to discuss the importance of considering rising water prices and scarcity in sustainability efforts.

They also discuss the challenges faced by healthcare organizations in meeting sustainability requirements and the importance of being forward-thinking in attracting and retaining top talent.

Overall, the conversation emphasizes the need to minimize downtime, consider the rising cost and availability of water, and adopt a future-oriented mindset when making decisions about sustainability and efficiency in production processes.

Enjoy!

During the summer, we're revisiting our four greatest hits and most enjoyed podcasts in a Best of 2022 series.

The third episode is: 022 - MUST LISTEN: Why most sustainability transformations fail

… and how to change that.

This episode covers how to improve the success rate of the sustainability transformations that are started.

We’re looking at the three main reasons sustainability transformations fail and addressing how to change each one.

Moreover, we’re looking at how to create good analysis and most importantly what the difference between a goal and a strategy is

We’re also looking at how to deploy green transformations and sustainability as a growth engine.

What is the impact of digital transformation, the growing trend of single-use products, and the importance of sustainability and decarbonization efforts in the healthcare sector?

In this podcast, Frederik van Deurs and Kristoffer Hvidsteen address these questions and the challenges faced by commercial organizations in the pharma industry.

With practical insights and a focus on market demands, this podcast provides valuable information for anyone involved in the future of the industry.

Enjoy!

During the summer, we're revisiting our four greatest hits and most enjoyed podcasts in a Best of 2022 series.

The second episode is: 036 - How Roche are building sustainability into digital healthcare products and processes with Andreas & Pia @ Roche Diagnostics.

On this week's episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, we have Andreas & Pia from Roche Diagnostics in the studio for a talk about digital health and how to build sustainability into these products.

Enjoy!

Why is being equipped to address sustainability crucial for key stakeholders and how will it shape the future of the market?

Join Frederik van Deurs and Joachim Almdal in this podcast as they answer the questions and address the importance of sustainability literacy in commercial organizations, specifically in the healthcare industry.

Gain insights on the need for foundational knowledge, proactive initiatives, and the impact of sustainability requirements on profitability.

Enjoy!

During the summer, we're revisiting our four greatest hits and most enjoyed podcasts in a Best of 2022 series.

The first episode is episode 025 - Materiality Assessment – How to Move the Sustainability Needle:
How can you move the needle in a sustainability transformation? That question are we trying to answer today. Frederik van Deurs and Joachim Almdal is back in the studio and sharing - in-depth – about their own work when actually working with major pharma & MedTech companies on improving their sustainability profile.

This is a very tactical episode where we talk about what a materiality assessment is, how to do one and we’re talking about Madonna.

Enjoy!

Join Frederik van Deurs and Elisa Franz, CEO of Health Pro Europe, as they discuss the importance of sustainable procurement in healthcare.

Learn about the challenges and opportunities in driving green transformation and the role of procurement professionals in shaping demands for the market.

Discover practical steps towards sustainability and be inspired to make a difference.

Enjoy!

Join host Krisfotter in a captivating episode of The Sustainable Health Care Podcast as he engages in a thought-provoking conversation with packaging expert Julia Vol.

Together, they explore the challenges and opportunities in the world of sustainable packaging. Discover how circularity begins at the product design stage and explore innovative solutions like reusable coffee cups and refill stations.

Gain insights into the need for industry collaboration and regulations to overcome the packaging challenge. Tune in now for an inspiring dive into the realm of sustainable packaging.

Enjoy!

Plastic expert Julia discusses the challenges of plastics and their impact on the environment.

She explains that compostable packaging is the only type of degradable plastic, but it requires proper disposal systems. She & Krisfotter, Director @ Green Innovation Group, discuss the need for a comprehensive approach to address the plastic challenge, exploring alternative materials where possible, and end-of-life support for materials.

They suggest cross-sector collaborations and industry solutions to reduce plastic waste and regulatory and policy changes to focus on reducing single-use plastic.

Listen to learn more!

Enjoy!

In this Sustainable Healthcare Podcast episode, the host, Frederik van Deurs, CEO of Green Inoovation Group, interviews Henrik Alfredsson, a chemist at Frost Pharma, about his company's sustainable solution called WoodSafe.

The conversation focuses on reducing emissions in the healthcare industry, particularly through sustainable waste management. The speakers discuss the challenges facing the industry and the potential for innovative solutions like WoodSafe to reduce environmental impact.

This podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in sustainable practices in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Enjoy!

The Sustainable Healthcare Podcast explores the potential of generative AI to revolutionize healthcare and reduce CO2 emissions.

The host Frederik van Deurs, CEO of Green Innovation Group, discuss the benefits and limitations of using AI in the medical field, including optimizing energy usage in hospitals and developing sustainable medical products.

They also touch on the ethical concerns surrounding AI and emphasize the importance of human expertise and ethical considerations in decision-making.

This podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and healthcare.

Enjoy!

In this Sustainable Healthcare podcast, molecular geneticist Nazneen Rahman discusses her passion for creating sustainable healthcare solutions and the urgent need for action in reducing the carbon footprint of medicine. She emphasizes the importance of collaboration and intentionality in driving change and highlights the issue of effective medicines being made but never used.

The conversation covers various strategies for decarbonization and waste reduction in the industry and provides valuable insights into evaluating programs and initiatives from multiple perspectives.

Listeners will gain valuable insights into the importance of sustainability in healthcare and the benefits of collaboration and systemic thinking in addressing sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry.

Learn more here: https://www.yewmaker.com/.

Enjoy!

In this podcast, Joachim Almdal from Green Innovation Group and Sage Hem, Geologist at Alumichem, will discuss the topic of water reclamation and its importance in achieving sustainability. We delve into the innovative methods and technologies that help conserve and protect our water resources.

We also touch on the topic of animal ethics in relation to water usage and the impact of unsustainable practices on our environment and wildlife.

Enjoy!