ENKORE at the European Medical Device Sustainability Conference 2026
A systemic challenge requiring systemic solutions
From 21 to 23 April, ENKORE took part in the European Medical Device Sustainability & ESG Compliance Conference in Amsterdam, a key forum bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, researchers and healthcare stakeholders to address one of the most pressing challenges facing the sector: how to reconcile healthcare delivery with environmental sustainability.
Representing ENKORE, Marco Cinelli from Leiden University delivered a presentation titled Smarter Decisions, Sustainable Healthcare: The ENKORE Way, offering a comprehensive overview of the project’s approach to tackling the environmental impact of healthcare systems.
He was joined by ENKORE members from across the consortium, including representatives from Johnson & Johnson such as Sharon Connor and Daniëlle Motta, alongside other industry partners actively contributing to the project’s vision and implementation.
A systemic challenge requiring systemic solutions
Healthcare systems are responsible for approximately 5 percent of global carbon emissions, a significant share of which is linked to the widespread use of single use medical devices and plastic based packaging. While these solutions have historically played a key role in ensuring safety and efficiency, they also pose critical sustainability challenges that require coordinated and systemic responses.
ENKORE addresses this complexity by bringing together 52 partners and affiliated members across Europe, spanning industry, academia, research organisations and healthcare providers. This multi stakeholder structure reflects the project’s core ambition to move beyond isolated innovations and enable transformation at system level.
ENKORE addresses this complexity by bringing together 52 partners and affiliated members across Europe, spanning industry, academia, research organisations and healthcare providers. This multi stakeholder structure reflects the project’s core ambition to move beyond isolated innovations and enable transformation at system level.
From eco design to end of life: a lifecycle approach
At the heart of ENKORE lies a lifecycle based approach to product design and use. Rather than focusing on individual stages, the project develops integrated solutions that consider the entire value chain, from material selection and product design to usage, reuse and end of life management.
Key areas of work include the development of safe and sustainable materials, the design of eco innovative packaging and medical devices, and the implementation of advanced end of life strategies that support recycling and circularity without compromising safety or performance.
In parallel, ENKORE is developing digital tools to support decision making processes, enabling stakeholders to assess trade offs and identify optimal solutions based on both safety and sustainability criteria.
ENKORE addresses this complexity by bringing together 52 partners and affiliated members across Europe, spanning industry, academia, research organisations and healthcare providers. This multi stakeholder structure reflects the project’s core ambition to move beyond isolated innovations and enable transformation at system level.
Improving decision making across the ecosystem
A distinctive feature of ENKORE is its focus on decision making. In complex systems such as healthcare, sustainability cannot be achieved through isolated improvements alone. Instead, it requires aligning multiple actors, constraints and objectives.
ENKORE contributes to this by linking high level sustainability challenges with concrete design options across the product lifecycle, while also clarifying the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. This approach helps avoid narrow or short term decisions and supports more robust, co-constructive and evidence based strategies.
From concept to real world validation
Importantly, ENKORE’s solutions are not limited to theoretical frameworks. They will be tested and validated in real healthcare environments across Europe, ensuring their feasibility, scalability and impact in practice.
This real world dimension is essential to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, and to support the transition towards more circular and sustainable healthcare systems.
ENKORE addresses this complexity by bringing together 52 partners and affiliated members across Europe, spanning industry, academia, research organisations and healthcare providers. This multi stakeholder structure reflects the project’s core ambition to move beyond isolated innovations and enable transformation at system level.
Looking ahead
ENKORE’s participation in the European Medical Device Sustainability Conference reflected its commitment to engaging with the broader ecosystem and contributing to ongoing policy and industry discussions around ESG compliance and sustainable healthcare transformation.
As the sector continues to evolve, initiatives such as ENKORE demonstrate that sustainability and safety are not opposing goals, but can be jointly addressed through integrated, collaborative and evidence driven approaches.
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