Circularity and resource efficiency

Mölnlycke's ambition to decouple material use from its growth goes beyond recycling. It all starts with limiting the need to recycle. Therefore, we focus on zero waste, working in accordance with the ‘right first time’ principle and repurposing and reclaiming materials. 

We’re on a journey to become a zero waste company, which involves focusing on both waste and water. We have an ambitious target of zero waste to landfill by 2030 as well as reusing water at all our most water-intensive sites by 2030 and we implement closed water loop systems in our production environments to that end.

Our waste reduction management programme to achieve the targets is based on site-specific activities designed to avoid waste being created in the first place and then minimising waste to landfill by correct segregation and disposing of remaining waste. We also identify new outlets for materials that would otherwise have been disposed of. Our actions make an important contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goal on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG 12). To find out more, please see our integrated Annual and Sustainability Report 2023.

 Our medical solutions often contain plastic or are delivered in diverse plastic packaging, with unique intrinsic performance properties which extend the lifespan of our solutions and protect them from external factors such as damage during transport and handling, or deterioration caused by contamination. This reduces the need for additional raw materials and resources in our products and contributes to minimising our customers’ waste.

As part of our resource efficiency journey, we have an ambition to provide >95% recyclable packaging by 2030. Governments around the world are adopting legislation targeted at tackling, for example, plastic waste. By embracing the power of upstream innovation to achieve two key circular economy innovation strategies — elimination and material circulation — we stay ahead of the curve. We continuously work together with customers, suppliers, recyclers, universities, and other partners to develop innovative and circular packaging solutions that have lower holistic environmental footprints and enable our customers to be more sustainable and deliver on their sustainability ambitions. These include a growing share of lighter, recyclable, recycled, bio-based and biodegradable packaging solutions while guaranteeing best clinical outcomes.

We consider competition with the food chain when evaluating the use of bio-based renewable raw materials and always opt for ISCC certified biobased materials, guaranteeing a transparent traceability along our supply chains and meeting the environmental and social standards.

In addition, we take a proactive approach to identify, manage and remove hazardous substances in all our products and processes to ensure safe use, ahead of legislation, future-proofing our products against changes in regulations.

We substantiate our research and efforts into alternative feedstocks and circularity of our products or packaging by continually updating our product Life-Cycle Analyses and Environmental Product Declarations.

We further increase the existing activities aimed at preventing littering, including educational projects for our customers and local communities in the countries in which we operate.

Creating solutions to help achieve optimal healthcare outcomes can require complex production processes and the handling of many different substances. Mölnlycke are committed to safe use of all substances at every stage of design production. We systematically identify, classify, and risk assess all substances to ensure that any potential hazards are identified. Once identified, any hazards are carefully controlled and mitigated.

A particular focus is placed on substances that may be hazardous. We have a commitment to minimise and replace them whenever possible. This process is embedded in rigorous review and rating systems, plus portfolio-level analysis and reporting, to ensure continual removal of these substances from the organisation’s value chain. An ongoing programme of research, development and supplier interaction continues into technologies to replace hazardous substances. When replacement is not possible, hazardous substances may only be used when safe use and adequate controls can be demonstrated. This protects our teams, stakeholders and the environment.

Careful handling of hazardous substances and preventing releases to the environment are requirements of the ISO 45001 standard for occupational health and safety management and ISO 14001 standard for environmental management respectively. Mölnlycke is globally certified to the ISO 45001 and 14001 standards, and is regularly audited by an accredited body to ensure conformance.