The healthcare industry is a major contributor to carbon emissions and environmental waste, with 4.6% of global emissions, creating millions of tonnes of waste per year1. A major proportion of that comes from single use items2.
A single use item that is becoming increasingly popular3 are single-use medical devices. Driving factors include combating hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and convenience, but in doing so comes with significant environmental and economic implications4.
With the increase driven by concerns of potential risks, with a focus on reducing HAIs, patient safety and user behaviour, single-use medical devices have seen big growth, with expectations to only get bigger5. A systematic review of the carbon footprints of single-use and reusable medical devices found that reusable devices consistently had lower lifecycle footprints6. The single-use devices market reached $25.18 billion in 2025, and is estimated to grow to $42.43 billion by 20307.
| A device intended by the manufacturer for a one-time use during a single procedure, to be discarded afterwards. | A device intended by the manufacturer for use more than once, such as a surgical instrument sterilised between uses. |
NOTE: In the context of medical devices, single-use medical devices are not intended to be reprocessed and used again, even on the same patient.
With the responsibility of balancing infection control and sustainability weighing healthcare professionals’ shoulders, it’s important to know the impacts both single use and reusable devices have on the environment.
Let’s break down the findings of two recent studies.
A comparison of environmental impacts between reusable and disposable flexible laryngoscopes
This study compared the environmental outcomes of single-use disposable flexible laryngoscopes and reusable flexible laryngoscopes. To estimate the environmental footprint, a life cycle assessment was utilised. Then data was tabulated from on-site observation, manufacturer data, and the Ecoinvent database of:
- Product and packaging material composition.
- Energy consumption.
- Water consumption.
- High-level disinfection products.
What is the ecoinvent database? A comprehensive and transparent life cycle inventory (LCI) database that provides reliable data for sustainability assessments.
What was the conclusion?
There is significant environmental benefit of reusable flexible laryngoscopes over single use when used in high frequency across several impact categories.
The study found that using a reusable laryngoscope over a single use laryngoscope:
- Saves 804 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents, assuming over a six-year lifespan the device is reprocessed 218 times per year.
- Produces fewer lifespan greenhouse gas emissions after 82 uses.
63% of the reusable laryngoscope greenhouse gas emissions were due to protective equipment production and disposal used in reprocessing. Compared to 79% of single laryngoscopes total greenhouse gas emissions attributing to scope manufacturing and production.
Environmental footprint and material composition comparison of single-use and reusable duodenoscopes
This study compared sustainable strategies of three different scenarios:
- Exclusive use of reusable duodenoscope.
- Exclusive use of single use duodenoscopes.
- Frequent use of a reusable duodenoscope with occasional use of single use duodenoscopes.
To assess sustainability, material composition analysis was evaluated. As was life cycle analysis including production, transport, incineration and reprocessing. The carbon footprint was calculated using environmental software.
What was the conclusion?
Both the exclusive and occasional use of single use duodenoscopes has a significant negative impact on our environment. The life cycle carbon footprint of a reusable duodenoscope over its estimated 8-year lifetime is 62-82 times lower than the exclusive use of the SUD and 10 times lower than the occasional use of single use devices. The end-of-life incineration emissions for SUDs were the greatest environmental contributors.
Finding the balance
Both studies show that single use devices have a significantly harmful influence on our environment. To minimise our impact, using reusable devices proves the better option.
Ultimately, keeping patients safe, making life easier for healthcare workers and looking after our planet does not have to come at the cost of the other. Single-use devices might feel convenient, but our environment pays the price. Reusable devices with appropriate reprocessing methods hits the perfect balance of hygiene and sustainability.
Switch your single-use devices with a reusable device alongside a high-level disinfectant that creates peace of mind for patient and user safety without being inconvenient.
Effective
Tristel products utilise our propriety chemistry chlorine dioxide, effective against:
- Reducing healthcare-associated infections.
- A wide range of pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, yeasts, fungi, mycobacteria and bacterial spores.
Short contact time, short total reprocessing time
Tristel Trio Wipes System and Stella System are designed with short contact times, enabling rapid high-level disinfection without compromising safety or compliance. This efficiency allows for minimal total reprocessing time.
Ease of use at point of care
Tristel Trio Wipes System and Stella System are simple to use, with clear instructions making effective disinfection easy to achieve every time. Both are lightweight and small, allowing for easy set up to be used at point of care.
Our Medical Device Disinfectants
REFERENCES
1 Tee, N. C. H., Yeo, J.-A., Choolani, M., Poh, K. K., & Ang, T. L. (2024). Healthcare in the era of climate change and the need for environmental sustainability. Singapore Medical Journal, 65(4), 204–210. https://doi.org/10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2024-035
2, 3, 4 Rizan, C., Mortimer, F., Stancliffe, R., & Bhutta, M. F. (2020). Plastics in healthcare: Time for a re‑evaluation. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 113 (2), 49–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076819890554
5 The Business Research Company. (2026). Single-use medical devices market report 2026. https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/single-use-medical-devices-market-report
6,7 Booth, A., Chowaniec, M., Goyal, S., Faulkner, S., & Shaw, S. (2025). The carbon footprints of single-use and reusable medical devices: A systematic review. BMJ Open, 15(12), e108446. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-108446
