Sustainable Medical Laboratories Transition Report

The Transition Report on Sustainable Medical Laboratories will be presented during WoTS. This report is one of the project results of the UMCNL Sustainable Laboratories working group, in collaboration with Green Labs NL, funded by a grant from the Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare. The transition report maps out key barriers and opportunities, and identifies which parties should collaborate more closely to take further steps.

Within medical laboratories, a movement of professionals seeking to link sustainability to quality, efficiency, and security of supply has been growing for some time. The need for knowledge is also increasing. These growing insights and awareness raise more questions. Where do products and raw materials come from? What information substantiates a sustainability claim? When is recycled plastic a better choice, and when should we take a broader view of the entire life cycle and chain?

Suppliers, on the other hand, do not always know which questions and knowledge needs exist on the shop floor. Laboratories, in turn, do not always have sufficient information to properly assess products and sustainability claims. At this intersection lie opportunities for knowledge exchange, better dialogue, and solutions that align with practice.

The transition report is specifically intended as a source of knowledge and inspiration for everyone involved in future-proof diagnostics from laboratory practice, science, quality, procurement, policy, or the business community.

During this knowledge session, I will give you a whirlwind tour of themes such as:

• quality and ISO 15189;
  • European regulations and IVDR;
  • sustainable purchasing and product information;
  • labels and sustainability assessments;
  • collaboration between laboratories and suppliers;
  • sharing and scaling up knowledge and good solutions.

How do we jointly assess whether a product is actually more sustainable? What information do laboratories and suppliers need from each other? How do we better align sustainability assessments with existing quality frameworks? And what does it mean in concrete terms when quality and procurement work together more closely? I don't have all the answers, and I look forward to tackling this session with you!

Speaker: Kelly Nijhof, UMC Utrecht