Sustainability, circularity and chain collaboration

Make hospital sustainability goals measurable for SZA

SimpleComply connects waste prevention, on-site decontamination, measurable performance and circular value-chain development. This gives hospitals a concrete route from ambition to demonstrable improvement.

Discuss your sustainability case

What hospitals are working towards

The Netherlands is quantified. Belgium is regionally organised

General and university hospitals share the direction, but the formal framework, reference years and institutional targets differ by country and organisation.

The Netherlands

Quantified sector commitments for 2030 and 2050

The Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare 3.0 is the common framework for general hospitals and university medical centres.

55% lower CO₂ emissions by 2030
50% lower primary raw-material use by 2030
Climate-neutral and maximally circular healthcare by 2050

General hospitalsThe Dutch Hospital Association states that it and its members commit to the Green Deal objectives.

University medical centresUMCNL applies the same objectives and adds a joint role in research, education and knowledge sharing.

Dutch Hospital Association UMCNL implementation plan Green Deal text

Belgium

One federal ambition, different regional programmes

The researched official frameworks do not set one separate, nationally quantified target for general and university hospitals comparable to the Dutch Green Deal.

Federal ambition: carbon-neutral healthcare by 2050
Flanders: a voluntary Green Deal through 2026 covering climate and infrastructure, materials and waste, nature and health, and medicines in water
Wallonia: the voluntary ASeT-W programme from 2026 to 2029 prioritises hospitals and elderly-care facilities

General hospitalsRegional frameworks apply across the hospital sector; organisations translate them into their own plans, targets and annual reporting.

University hospitalsThe same regional direction applies, with additional opportunities for research, pilots and value-chain innovation.

Flemish Green Deal Flemish 2025 progress Walloon alliance Federal healthcare projects

Factual scope: Green Deals and collaborative programmes are policy and sector commitments. They do not replace applicable waste law, permits, site-specific acceptance, validation or an organisation's own baseline.

Evidence from hospital reporting

Annual reports show where organisations are already measuring progress

These are institutional results, not universal sector performance. They demonstrate that risk-bearing medical waste and circular projects are increasingly measured and managed.

General hospital, NL

Amphia

32.5% less specific hospital waste in 2024 than in 2019.

View source

General hospital, NL

Bravis

29.2% less specific hospital waste in 2024 than in 2019; its 25% reduction target for 2026 had already been achieved.

View source

University hospital, BE

UZ Leuven

More than 10% less risk-bearing medical waste in 2025 and seven circular projects implemented.

View source

General hospital, BE

Jessa

A circular operating-theatre pilot reduced risk-bearing medical-waste containers by 35.14% in the measured process.

View source

Concrete value for SZA

Manage sustainability per kilogram of infectious clinical waste

SimpleComply makes an abstract objective operational: less unnecessary material in the SZA stream, less waste volume and weight after treatment, fewer collection movements where the site route permits this, traceable process data and a structured route towards circular use.

Prevent unnecessary SZA

A waste analysis and acceptance matrix help keep incorrectly classified material out of the risk-bearing stream.

Decontaminate and reduce

Sterilwave treats eligible waste on site, with up to 80% waste-volume reduction and up to 25% waste-weight reduction.

Measure and demonstrate

Annual kilograms, cycles, capacity, transport and downstream routes create usable data for the business case and sustainability reporting.

Develop circularity

Characterisation, separation tests, legal assessment and offtake criteria turn output into a concrete value-chain question.

View services and business case View Sterilwave models

Environmental claim: The actual environmental benefit must be demonstrated per site using the waste baseline, current and future transport route, energy use, downstream treatment and, where necessary, a life-cycle assessment. A Sterilwave installation alone does not prove that a sustainability target has been achieved.

From output to circular value

Decontamination is a starting point, not the circular end point

SimpleComply is actively developing initiatives to use decontaminated Sterilwave output as circularly as possible. Material value requires a technically sound, legally permitted, environmentally substantiated and commercially viable chain.

Characterise

Composition, quality and variation of the decontaminated output.

Separate

Technical options for useful material fractions.

Validate

Safety, quality, legislation, acceptance and environmental value.

Scale

Stable volumes, processing, offtake and transparent chain agreements.

Toepassingsvoorbehoud: Decontamination status and a waste code do not independently determine whether recycling is permitted or feasible for every party, site or application.

EnCiMedresearch and chain collaboration

Work already under way

SimpleComply as industrial partner, TNO as project coordinator

EnCiMed shows how material knowledge, separation technology, safety, regulation, quality and offtake must come together in one demonstrable route.

Read the EnCiMed story

Open invitation to collaborate

Help build a circular chain for decontaminated SZA

SimpleComply is looking for partners in the Netherlands and Belgium who want to work intensively on material analysis, separation, processing, validation, environmental evidence and offtake. If your organisation can contribute expertise, technology, volume, a pilot location or a market application, we would like to hear from you.

Hospitals and laboratories

Pilot locations, representative waste streams and operational data.

Processors and recyclers

Separation, cleaning, compounding and scalable processing.

Material and product companies

Quality specifications, applications and offtake.

Research and testing partners

Material analysis, safety, LCA and validation.

Chain and regulatory partners

Acceptance criteria, permitted routes and transparent chain control.

What can your organisation add?

Select sustainability or circularity as the main reason in the contact form.

Discuss a partnership

Primary sources

Policy, progress and hospital reporting

The page was checked against official sector documents, government programmes and recent hospital reports, accessed on 12 August 2026.

Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare 3.0, the Netherlands Dutch Hospital Association sustainability objectives UMCNL implementation plan Flemish Green Deal themes and 2025 progress Walloon Alliance Santé en Transition Belgian federal sustainable hospital projects Amphia sustainability and environmental report 2024 Bravis sustainability report 2024 UZ Leuven annual report 2025 Jessa circular operating-theatre pilot

Volgende stap

Connect sustainability goals to your actual SZA stream

We map the baseline, treatment route, measurable value and opportunities for circular collaboration.

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