How can hospitals reduce the environmental impact of endoscopy care without compromising quality of care? A new video from the Zero Emission Endoscopy (ZEE) consortium highlights several practical interventions currently being implemented at Erasmus MC to make endoscopy care more sustainable in daily practice.

The video was developed together with colleagues from the ZEE consortium and the Erasmus MC endoscopy green team, and shows how relatively small changes in workflows, materials and waste management can collectively contribute to reducing the ecological footprint of healthcare.

Examples featured in the video include:

• reducing single-use plastics,
• replacing disposable materials with reusable alternatives,
• improving waste separation,
• reducing medication waste,
• and lowering energy consumption in the endoscopy department.

The video is part of the broader Zero Emission Endoscopy (ZEE) Sustainable Health Program within Convergence Health & Technology. Within this four-year program, researchers from Erasmus MC, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam collaborate on developing evidence-based and scalable solutions for more sustainable endoscopy care.

Recently, ZEE PhD researchers Britt Vegting and Ceyda Izci also published their first scientific papers on the environmental footprint of gastrointestinal endoscopy and opportunities for more sustainable practice.

With healthcare responsible for approximately 7% of the total CO₂ emissions in the Netherlands, initiatives such as ZEE aim to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable healthcare systems while maintaining high-quality patient care.

Watch the video: ZEE video – sustainable endoscopy in practice

Read more: Zero Emission Endoscopy (ZEE) – Convergence