Healthcare systems across Asia Pacific are facing growing pressure from workforce shortages, rising costs, supply chain disruption and ageing populations. At the same time, sustainability is moving beyond a standalone ESG priority and becoming part of how hospitals think about efficiency, resilience, procurement and long-term healthcare delivery.

Jane Crowe, Vice President Asia Pacific at Cardinal Health, discusses the growing role of circular healthcare, medical device reprocessing, sustainable product design and total-value procurement, and how healthcare systems can reduce environmental impact without compromising patient safety or continuity of care.

Across APAC, hospitals are under pressure to improve efficiency while managing workforce shortages, rising costs and supply chain disruption. How is sustainability becoming part of day-to-day healthcare operations rather than a separate ESG priority?

Sustainability is becoming part of day-to-day healthcare operations because the challenges hospitals face are increasingly interconnected.

Across Asia Pacific, healthcare providers are dealing with workforce shortages, rising costs, capacity constraints and ongoing supply chain pressures. While healthcare systems are at different stages of maturity across the region, one theme consistently comes up in conversations with customers: they need solutions that improve efficiency and resilience without compromising patient care.

That's why sustainability is increasingly viewed as a business and operational priority, not just an ESG commitment. Hospitals are looking at sustainability as a practical way to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, strengthen supply continuity and make better use of limited clinical resources, all of which can deliver substantial cost savings.

Sustainability is also exerting a growing influence on healthcare recruitment and retention. A 2023 APAC-focused white paper found that 69% of people would be more inclined to work for organisations that prioritise sustainability. At a time when healthcare systems across the region are facing workforce shortages, sustainability can help organisations attract and retain talent while supporting broader operational goals.

This shift is reflected across the region. The World Health Organization has highlighted how countries in Asia Pacific are adopting greener technologies, embedding sustainability into procurement processes and exploring circular healthcare models.

At Cardinal Health, we see this playing out in three ways. First, healthcare providers are evaluating products across their entire lifecycle, from design and use through to recovery and disposal. Second, procurement teams are placing greater emphasis on waste reduction, packaging efficiency and supply reliability. Third, manufacturers are increasingly expected to help healthcare systems reduce environmental impact while maintaining product availability, clinical performance and patient safety.

Ultimately, sustainability is becoming an important enabler of more efficient, resilient and cost-effective healthcare delivery.

Circular healthcare models such as device reprocessing and waste reduction are gaining attention. Where do you see the strongest opportunities for these approaches in APAC, and what barriers still limit wider adoption?

The biggest opportunities are in areas where hospitals can reduce waste. Single-use device reprocessing is one of the most promising examples.

It helps move healthcare from a traditional “use and dispose” model towards a circular approach where devices are collected, cleaned, tested and safely returned for clinical use. In some APAC markets, this is referred to as remanufacturing.

The benefits are straightforward. Healthcare providers can extend the life of certain medical devices, divert waste from landfill and often reduce costs without compromising safety or quality.

Australia is a good example. Healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to reduce waste, lower emissions and build more resilient healthcare systems. As a result, we're seeing growing interest in single-use device remanufacturing as a practical way to advance sustainability goals while protecting patient care.

To support this transition, Cardinal Health is opening its first reprocessing facility outside the United States in Newcastle, New South Wales. When fully operational next year, the facility will focus on reprocessing compression sleeves and help expand circular healthcare capabilities in Australia.

That said, wider adoption across APAC will require progress in three areas: clinical confidence, regulatory alignment and procurement practices. Healthcare providers need assurance that reprocessed devices meet the highest quality and safety standards. Regulators need clear pathways for approval. And procurement teams increasingly need to evaluate solutions based on total value rather than upfront purchase price alone.

Through our Sustainable Technologies business, Cardinal Health reprocesses more than 21 million devices annually in the United States, diverting nearly three million kilograms of waste from landfill every year.

A 2023 third-party life-cycle assessment found that the overall environmental footprint of a reprocessed device in the United States was, on average, 43% lower than that of a new single-use device. The study also showed that reprocessed compression sleeves had a 40% lower carbon footprint and reduced hospital disposal costs by 90%.

That's where reprocessing delivers real value by reducing waste and environmental impact while supporting cost management, operational efficiency and patient safety.

Healthcare supply chain resilience and sustainability are increasingly linked. How can hospitals and suppliers reduce environmental impact without compromising product availability, sterility, patient safety or continuity of care?

Patient safety has to be the starting point. Sustainability should never come at the expense of product quality, sterility, clinical performance or continuity of care.

The goal is to reduce environmental impact while ensuring clinicians have reliable access to the products they need, when they need them.

Achieving that balance requires healthcare suppliers to become strategic partners, not simply product vendors. At Cardinal Health, we work closely with customers to address the interconnected challenges of supply resilience, cost pressures and sustainability.

A resilient supply chain is not just one with inventory available; it's one that delivers products reliably while minimising waste and making better use of resources.

Within our product design process, a sustainability framework serves as a guide to help teams consider opportunities for sustainable progress in areas like material efficiency, waste reduction and circularity.

Across our manufacturing network, we're investing in energy-efficient equipment, LED lighting, water-saving technologies and digital systems that reduce resource consumption while maintaining high-quality standards.

Technology can also make a meaningful difference. In the United States, our WaveMark Solutions platform provides real-time visibility into clinical inventory, helping health systems optimise supply levels and reduce waste.

Through predictive analytics and automated inventory management, we've helped customers lower inventory carrying costs by an average of 26% and reduce product waste by as much as 65% during the first year of implementation.

There are also practical opportunities to reduce environmental impact through smarter logistics. Consolidating deliveries, improving inventory planning and optimising transportation routes can lower emissions while maintaining product availability.

Reprocessing can further strengthen resilience by supporting more localised and circular supply models. By reducing reliance on global supply chains, healthcare systems can improve supply security while advancing sustainability goals.

How are medical product manufacturers redesigning devices, packaging or delivery models to reduce waste and resource use while also making products easier and more efficient for healthcare professionals to use?

Manufacturers are increasingly looking at sustainability across the entire product lifecycle, from materials and packaging to transportation, usability and end-of-life management.

At Cardinal Health, we're focused on developing products that meet high standards of safety and performance while reducing environmental impact.

For example, our Kendall SCD SmartFlow controller reduces Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use by 61% compared to its predecessor.

Our Kangaroo OMNI Feeding Sets feature a 10% reduction in tubing length, preventing more than 98,000 kilograms of plastic waste from entering landfills each year.

Packaging is another area where meaningful progress can be made. We recently redesigned the packaging for our Infection Control Apparel gowns, replacing corrugated materials with chipboard and reducing packaging waste by an estimated 38,500 kilograms annually.

We also designed corrugate packaging for the Kendall SCD SmartFlow Compression System using at least 75% recycled content.

Delivery models are evolving as well. Building a more sustainable supply chain requires optimising transportation networks to reduce emissions while maintaining reliability.

The broader lesson is that sustainability and usability should go hand in hand. Healthcare professionals are already working in highly demanding environments. The best innovations are those that reduce waste, simplify workflows and support better patient care at the same time.

Procurement decisions can strongly influence whether sustainable technologies are adopted. Are hospitals in APAC beginning to assess products on lifecycle cost, waste reduction and operational efficiency rather than purchase price alone?

Yes, although the pace of change varies across the region.

Healthcare providers are increasingly recognising that purchase price alone doesn't capture the true value of a product. Sustainability is becoming a more important factor in procurement decisions as hospitals look for ways to improve efficiency, reduce waste and strengthen supply resilience.

We're seeing hospitals take a broader view of value by evaluating factors such as product reliability, waste disposal costs, staff time, supply continuity, training requirements, environmental impact and patient safety alongside price.

As a result, suppliers are being asked to provide more evidence-based sustainability data and demonstrate measurable operational benefits. Broad sustainability claims are no longer enough. Healthcare organisations want clear evidence that a solution can help improve both clinical and business outcomes.

Our Protexis Surgical Gloves, which are manufactured at our facility in Rayong, Thailand, are a good example. Ongoing investments in equipment upgrades and electricity optimisation helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions per pair of Protexis Surgical Gloves manufactured by 3% between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2025.

Solar panels were installed onsite in fiscal 2025, enabling us to tap into renewable energy production in fiscal 2026.

Water stewardship is another important part of this manufacturing process. A reverse-osmosis system treats wastewater for reuse, allowing the facility to recycle, on average, nearly 20% of the water used each day.

Paper packaging used for Protexis Surgical Gloves is sourced from responsibly managed forests and carries Forest Stewardship Council certification.

While procurement approaches differ across APAC markets, the direction is clear. More healthcare systems are moving towards total-value decision making rather than simply selecting the lowest-cost option.

That's an important shift because the most sustainable solution is often the one that reduces waste, improves efficiency, strengthens resilience and ultimately delivers better outcomes for both patients and healthcare providers.