Product stewardship

We have expanded our team of life cycle assessment (LCA) specialists to strengthen and accelerate environmental impact analysis across our portfolio. To help ensure consistency and rigor, we developed internal LCA methodologies, documentation and a standardized LCA process, enabling broader integration of sustainability insights into product design and development. We completed third party verification for our first LCA's and are moving to embed life cycle assessments throughout the design process.

Assessing more sustainable materials and developing tools to enable improved packaging design.

The Global Packaging and Labeling Sustainability (GPLS) team evaluates new and improved packaging materials and develops tools to support sustainable design and compliance. This work, paired with targeted education to increase design for sustainability knowledge, has strengthened our engineers’ ability to improve the sustainability of our packaging. We measure sustainability improvements through annual case studies and by developing and tracking key metrics that drive consistent improvements across divisions.

• Reducing the amount of material used in packaging.
• Redesigning packaging to improve sustainability and supply chain efficiency.
• Increasing recyclability and use of recycled content.
• Responsibly sourcing packaging materials in collaboration with suppliers.
• Monitoring regulatory developments and advocating for sustainable packaging requirements.

Using more sustainable materials and helping customers reduce waste through responsible device collection and recovery programs.

Using more sustainable materials helps lower the environmental footprint of our devices. For example, we introduced a bio-based plastic handle for the LithoVue™ Elite Single-Use Digital Flexible Ureteroscope, with up to 85% of the material attributed to renewable biological resources rather than fossil fuels — offering a more sustainable alternative without compromising performance.

To reduce waste, our endoscopy and urology businesses in the U.S. operate takeaway programs for approved devices, to evaluate materials for reuse, recycling and lastly landfill disposal if needed. In 2025, the programs collected 24 metric tons, a 27% increase over last year. We continue working with customers to explore additional ways to reduce environmental impact at end of use.

We partner across the healthcare sector to advance sustainable innovation and shared solutions.

• Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)
• Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council
• Kilmer Innovations in Packaging
• Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
• MedTech Europe and affiliated associations, including the Association of British HealthTech Industries
• Collaborative for Healthcare Action to Reduce MedTech Emissions (CHARME)

Through CHARME, we are conducting research to better understand customer needs and priorities related to sustainable design.