Day 1 at the PACK out in sunny Coronado, California. In a morning session, Cliff Labbe, Director of Packaging Excellence at Johnson & Johnson MedTech discussed findings from a recent survey from nurses, surgeons, and procurement staff that weighed in on sustainability topics in hospitals.
Findings show that 74% of hospitals surveyed have sustainability goals. What’s more is that 85% of hospitals are willing to pay more for sustainable options. Nestor Jarquin, category Director, Surgical at Kaiser Permanente confirmed this statistic, discussing various sustainable success stories that prove out this point within Kaiser.
Jarquin talked about EPP (environmentally preferable purchasing) that focuses on selecting goods and services that have reduced impact on human health and the environment compared to competing products. The focus was on how important sustainable packaging is to hospital procurement staff, and they are willing to pay a bit extra for it. But the disconnect is that sometimes procurement staff doesn't realize the sustainability strides MDMs are making; hence communication is key for the industry as a whole.
The audience asked questions him such as:
- What has a bigger sustainability impact: lowering CO2 emissions or creating a recyclable package. Jarquin says CO2!
- Is sterilization method part of EPP? Jarquin says yes... EO is a greenhouse gas so yes, but with material compatibility we’re a little stuck as an industry… “We’d like to see other options than EO.”
His takeaway for MDMs… “MDMs are not there when procurement is making decisions. You need to educate your partners, tell your story, why it’s important. Take time to educate hospital staff/ procurement about what your company is doing from a sustainability standpoint.”
Then, in a session hosted by Kiley Djupstrom & Jenn Goff, co-founders of the PACK Out, the duo presented a live poll session gauging the pulse of the industry at the event. The live Slido poll asked attendees (roughly 300) to weigh in on various topics.
Here is what the poll revealed:
· Are you actively taking steps in your organization to support sustainability issues? 80% of attendees said yes.
· MDMs: What percentage of your time is spent supporting sustainability in your current role? 56% said less than 10% of their time.
· What burning question do you have regarding sterilization? Top responses include capacity, alternatives to EO, material impact.
· MDMs: Are you actively supporting initiatives tied to simulation? 58% of respondents said no.
· MDMs: Has your organization had any impact to product submissions due to resource constraints at the FDA? 33% of respondents said yes.
· Where do you see AI having the biggest impact on healthcare packaging in the next 18 months. Top responses include design, data analysis, documentation, purchasing, technical writing, efficiency.
· MDMs: Has your organization been impacted by the recent tariffs? 62% of respondents said yes.
