New Publication: Life Cycle Assessments in Healthcare—Findings and Standardization Needs

We are pleased to announce the publication of our latest research in the*International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health*: “Life Cycle Assessments in Healthcare: Insights and Standardization Needs.”

This paper was developed as part of the MEiK project—Single-Use Medical Products in the Circular Economy—and builds on the issues addressed in that project regarding sustainability and the circular economy in healthcare.

In this study, Franziska Zecha, Lena-Marie Hupperich, and Tobias Viere examined how LCA is currently applied in the healthcare sector and to what extent existing standards already cover these practices.

Since healthcare contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change and its health consequences, life cycle assessments are becoming increasingly important. However, differing methodological approaches have so far made it difficult to compare results and thus to use them for informed decision-making in healthcare systems.

Key Focus Areas of the Analysis

• Systematic analysis of healthcare-specific standards and Product Category Rules
• Quantitative evaluation of published LCA studies in the healthcare sector
• Comparison of current practices with existing methodological frameworks
• Identification of standardization needs at the product, service, and organizational levels

Key Findings at a Glance

• A total of six healthcare-specific frameworks were identified: Five relate to medical products, and one to services—to date, there are no specific standards for evaluating entire organizations.
• Product-related life cycle assessments already demonstrate a comparatively high degree of methodological consistency and can, for example, support sustainable procurement decisions.
• In contrast, for services and organizational assessments, there are significant differences regarding functional units, system boundaries, and modeling approaches.
• Although current LCA practice is guided by ISO principles, a common model for mapping healthcare services is still lacking.
• Healthcare-related life cycle assessments bring together different perspectives—ranging from products to interventions and treatment pathways to entire organizations.

The results show that future standardization efforts should not only harmonize calculation methods. Equally important is the development of healthcare-specific modeling conventions to create a robust basis for decision-making in research, policy, and the decarbonization of healthcare systems.

Zecha, F., Hupperich, L.-M., Viere, T., 2026. Life Cycle Assessments in Healthcare: Insights and Standardization Needs. IJERPH 23, 828. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070828