International Collaboration to Tackle Single-Use Plastics in Healthcare
In 2025, University of Hyderabad (UoH), through its Department of Anthropology, has joined the global project “After the Single Use”, funded by the Wellcome Trust with the Discovery Award. Led locally by Dr. Nanda Kishore Kannuri, UoH will receive funding to contribute to this five-year research initiative addressing the environmental, social, and health impacts of single-use plastics in healthcare. In collaboration with partners including the IAU members University of Geneva, Switzerland and University of Oslo, Norway, the project explores how disposable medical technologies shape healthcare waste systems and seeks to develop circular healthcare solutions. This collaboration enhances UoH’s global research presence and aligns with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Using ethnographic and interdisciplinary methods, it investigates global supply chains and local responses to medical waste. The specific objectives of this project are:
- Examining historical, local, and global factors that have shaped the current healthcare waste crisis.
- Analysing the lifecycles of disposable medical technologies and their environmental and social consequences.
- Collaborating with policymakers, activists, engineers, and designers to develop circular healthcare solutions.