reCURE

This project is funded by the Flemish Government, Flanders innovation & entrepreneurship. 

While taking care of the population's health, hospitals generate mountains of waste. Which in turn have a negative impact on the living environment of this population. This waste originates from the excessive use of disposable products that are discarded, sometimes even without being used. 

reCURE researches the development and implementation of product reuse in this sector to ensure the conservation of raw materials and eliminate waste production. Risks linked to safety, hygiene, sterility and accuracy complicate the acceptation of innovations regarding reuse in the medical sector. A product must be technically reusable and cleanable. And even more important: medical staff and patients need to trust and be willing to (re)use these products. 

Non-invasive medical devices are an ideal starting point for the transition to circularity in healthcare. This medical device group includes medical textile products, such as gowns and drapes, which are the focus of this research. The challenge is to make “reusability” desirable and acceptable in the sector, meanwhile the focus is also to further optimise these reusable products in terms of functionality by introducing applications of smart textiles, which for disposable products that mainly focus on price, usually is not feasible.

Link with REuse Lab

Alike many other sectors, in healthcare there is a growing interest in the circular economy. Lots of ongoing research and innovation in the sector focusses on material recycling for obtaining circularity. Complementary, this project investigates reuse on a product-level. The use of the reusable product requires behavioural changes of the users (medical staff), as well as the entire value chain. We aim to develop a high-quality reusable product with associated services, including quality assurance, optimising ease of use, building confidence in reuse through a new business model.

Timeline: 2022-2024