New research has stressed that the NHS must systemically adopt circular economy practices to stand any chance of meeting the government’s commitment to achieve a net zero NHS by 2040.

Research from the University of Exeter, in partnership with Philips UK and Ireland, sets out the scale of the challenge and opportunity for the NHS to become the world’s first net zero health service. It calculates that the NHS’ carbon footprint, including its wider supply chain, is 31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, of which 62 per cent can be attributed to its suppliers.

The report, which also highlights the issue of waste, with NHS England providers creating nearly 600,000 tonnes of waste a year at a management cost £700 million, states that to achieve the government’s target for the NHS of net zero by 2040, emissions must be reduced eight per cent each year from 2020 to 2036 - a rate far higher than the one per cent historical average.

Markus Zils, co-author of the report and Professor for Circular Economy and Management Science at the University of Exeter, said: “NHS leaders have outlined their commitments to making health services more sustainable, but the pace of change has to swiftly accelerate. Our research has outlined that meeting the NHS’s ambitious net zero targets is only possible with the adoption of circular economy practices.

“It is critical that companies and key supply chain partners work with the NHS and wider health system to begin this journey. Such a transformation would dramatically enhance the patient experience, improve financial efficiency and reduce the system’s environmental impact.”

The report makes 45 recommendations across three stakeholder parties – the NHS, suppliers and regulators. These include: using procurement as a driver of emissions reduction by underwriting circular economy compliance into the procurement process; moving beyond energy efficiency and incremental innovation to systemic innovation that embraces circular economy business models and long-term value creation; and adapting policy and regulation to incentivise and nudge the NHS and its suppliers towards the adoption of Circular Economy practices to achieve NHS net zero ambitions.