A newly launched project, of the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care (Coalition),  Reducing Health Care-Related PPE and Medical Single Use Plastic Waste Through Circular Economy Principles, will demonstrate that hospital-generated PPE and mSUP materials can be successfully managed by applying the principles of a circular economy: reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible before the materials are disposed of. This project will explore and identify reuse and reduction opportunities for PPE and selected mSUPs, which will complement and enable resource conservation.

This project helps address several Government of Canada initiatives such as the following:

• In November 2018, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment adopted Canada’s Zero Plastic Waste Strategy to reduce the environmental impact of plastics and promote a circular economy [1].
• Canada supports the premise that the world needs a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and will be joining the Finnish and the Netherlands to host three high-level events to address the important role circularity plays in the economies of the future as well as in the fight against climate change and the nature crisis [2].
• To reduce the environmental impact of PPE in Canada, the Government of Canada is supporting the development of solutions that will lead to more sustainable PPE, including reusability, alternative materials, improved recyclability, novel recycling technologies and compostability [3].
• The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act delivers on the Government of Canada’s commitment to legislate Canada’s target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Act will establish a legally binding process to set five-year national emissions-reduction targets for 2030, 2035, 2040, and 2045, as well as develop credible, science-based emissions-reduction plans to achieve each target. [4].
• The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change is Canada's plan – developed with the provinces and territories and in consultation with Indigenous peoples – to meet Canada's emissions reduction targets, grow the economy, and build resilience to a changing climate. [5]