Circularity of Medical Wastes – CiEcoMWaste

The “Circularity of Medical Wastes – CiEcoMWaste” project at Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi (YSMU) is an international implementation research initiative led by Prof. Marine G. Hovhannisyan from the Faculty of Public Health, involving partners in Armenia, Georgia, Ghana, and Nepal. Aiming to embed circular economy principles in healthcare, it seeks to replace incineration with sustainable waste-treatment models by assessing environmental and social impacts, fostering cross-sector collaboration, developing innovative business and digital solutions, and building local capacity. The project supports the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDGs 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 17, and aspires to reduce medical waste, boost local economies, and lower environmental footprints while strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries.

Specific objectives of the collaborative project are:

• estimate the impacts and the externalities (impacts related with environmental and social aspects) for determining the total economic benefit from non-incineration technology for treating medical wastes from select cities / regions in the participating countries;
• organise workshops for collaboration and interactive partnership among actors and stakeholders to mobilise expertise and competencies as well as create acceptance and alignment of the “circular economy (CE) model for the participating countries;
• define a business model of operational innovation for responsible using of materials with accountability of costs for the respective country settings;
• introduce digital technologies to integrate distribution and consumption of materials, segregation and disinfection of medical wastes, and disposal of medical wastes from select cities / regions in the participating countries;
• develop human capacity with systems thinking and collaborative approaches for users of materials at select cities / regions in the participating countries to unlock circular value from medical wastes;
• institutionalise a collaborative platform bringing together diverse actors for sustainability of CE model for medical wastes in Armenia, Georgia, Ghana, and Nepal.

More information about this project can be accessed here.