Abstract
Ever-changing conditions and emerging new challenges affect the ability of the healthcare sector to survive with the current system, and to maintain its processes effectively. In the healthcare sector, the conservation of the natural resources is being obstructed by insufficient infrastructure for managing residual waste resulting from single-use medical materials, increased energy use, and its environmental burden. In this context, circularity and sustainability concepts have become essential in healthcare to meliorate the sector’s negative impacts on the environment. The main aim of this study is to identify the barriers related to circular economy (CE) in the healthcare sector, apply big data analytics in healthcare, and provide solutions to these barriers. The contribution of this research is the detailed examination of the current healthcare literature about CE adaptation, and a proposal for a big data-enabled solutions framework to barriers to circularity, using fuzzy best-worst Method (BWM) and fuzzy VIKOR. Based on the findings, managerial, policy, and theoretical implementations are recommended to support sustainable development initiatives in the healthcare sector.
Highlights
The healthcare sector is undergoing significant changes that constantly create new challenges, hindering the implementation of the current model, and negatively affecting it on various levels, especially in developing countries [1]
In addition to that artificial neural networks, optimization, and data mining were suggested as other important solutions that can be adopted for addressing circular economy (CE) barriers and overcoming them
The conservation of the natural resources is hindered by insufficient infrastructure for managing residual waste resulting from the usage of singleuse medical materials, and by the environmental burden of excessive energy use
Summary
The healthcare sector is undergoing significant changes that constantly create new challenges, hindering the implementation of the current model, and negatively affecting it on various levels, especially in developing countries [1]. The usage of resources, materials, and energy has been increased dramatically in the healthcare sector over the years [2] This increasing resource need and demand in the health sector has led to an increase in the usage of disposable medical equipment, and single-use medical supplies. A large number of these healthcare supplies are used once and discarded [3], which causes huge disruptions and burdens from the environmental perspective. Most of these disposable medical types of equipment are plastic products that are frequently used for various medical applications. As a result of these emerging trends, the healthcare sector itself has been affected, and seeks sustainable solutions
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