How Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) Support Medline’s Sustainability Strategy

The European healthcare landscape is under unprecedented strain, and with rising expectations for quality, safety, and sustainability, at Medline we recognise our duty to act. Our journey towards contributing to healthcare delivery extends beyond supplying essential products; we strive to enable clinicians to focus on patient care, free from operational burden. A cornerstone of this strategy is our initiative to promote Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs).

The Power of Data-Driven Sustainability: Why LCAs Matter

At its heart, an LCA is a systematic analysis of the potential environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire lifecycle - from raw material extraction, through manufacturing, distribution, and use, all the way to its end-of-life.

It provides our customers with credible data to support environmentally responsible product selection from our portfolio, reflecting our ongoing efforts to transparency and continuous improvement in sustainability.

For Medline, LCAs are invaluable because they provide the robust, data-driven approach needed to pinpoint hotspots and quantify environmental impact across our vast product portfolio. This allows us not only to take action to reduce our own emissions but critically, to support our customers in reducing theirs.

Medline’s carbon footprint eventually becomes our customers’ carbon footprint. That’s why we are committed to helping our customers reduce their own environmental impact, especially their Scope 3 emissions, by providing solutions that align with our shared values.

LCAs in Action: Tangible Product Innovations

Our LCAs have already led to significant and practical advancements in our product offerings, underscoring our efforts to responsible product development throughout the supply chain:

• Surgical gowns: Our surgical gowns team, leveraging LCA insights, has developed a single-material gown. This innovative design allows for easier reprocessing at the end of its life, enabling potential reductions in both waste and associated carbon emissions and contributing to circular economy. We found that switching to lighter SMS gowns can reduce waste managed by hospitals by over 35% and cut CO2e emissions by nearly 32%.
• Sterilisation wrap: Our analysis revealed that rethinking end-of-life scenarios can lead to substantial carbon footprint reductions. By enabling reprocessing, we can reduce the carbon footprint of the end-of-life stage by approximately 48% compared to municipal incineration. 
• Pack & kit review programme: We empower our customers to make more sustainable choices through our pack and kit review programme. This allows them to optimise and customise their pack solutions while understanding the anticipated carbon emission consequences of their decisions. For example, by moving from a bilaminate to a paper solution, reducing unnecessary dressings, and potentially removing plastic bags, we could significantly cut the carbon footprint per pack.
• Exam gloves packaging & pallet solutions: Our exam glove cuff-first solution looks to limit unnecessary wastage of exam gloves through innovative packaging design. Furthermore, our SPT division offers alternative pallet packaging solutions, leading to a significant reduction in packaging material when customers buy large volumes.

We are actively working with customers and peers to explore sustainable outcomes together.

Beyond the Product: Ethical Sourcing and Local Impact

While LCAs are crucial for product-specific insights, they are part of a broader approach to sustainability across our operations. We seek to integrate sustainable practices across our business, from our facilities to our community engagement.

Through data-driven insights from LCAs, continuous product innovation, and a relentless focus on our customers, we strive to turning sustainability aspirations into real-world impact. Our approach is to continue to:

• Ensure our products consistently meet vital healthcare needs
• Use LCAs to precisely track our environmental impact (emissions, energy, water, waste)
• Identify key areas for improvement and explore impactful new solutions
• Collaborate with stakeholders – customers, suppliers, and our teams – for collective progress
• Deliver scalable, realistic solutions that make a tangible difference

At Medline, we strive to contribute to the future of sustainable healthcare not by simply bolting sustainability onto our existing solutions, but by integrating it from the inception of each product. We are excited about continuing this journey with our partners and customers, promoting a healthcare system that is resilient, responsible, and healthier for all.

About Medline

Medline is the largest provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions serving all points of care. Through its broad product portfolio, resilient supply chain, and leading clinical solutions, Medline helps healthcare providers improve their clinical, financial, and operational outcomes. Headquartered in the U.S., Medline employs more than 43,000 people worldwide and operates in more than 100 countries and territories.

In EMEA, Medline partners with hospitals, care homes, and healthcare professionals to deliver clinically focused products and supply chain solutions that support patient safety, operational efficiency, and improved outcomes.

To learn more about how Medline helps improve healthcare delivery and outcomes, visit www.medline.eu/