Bio-based products in humanitarian medical supply chains: supply market intelligence and life cycle assessment

Bio-based products in humanitarian medical supply chains: supply market intelligence and life cycle assessment Keywords: Life cycle assessment, Supply market intelligence, field hospital Topic(s): Healthcare Operations Management, Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management Word count: 999 Purpose This paper explores the supply market options of selected bio-based products for use in the humanitarian medical context, namely field hospitals. Field hospitals are temporary medical facilities that deliver urgent healthcare services when existing infrastructure has been compromised (Fardi et al., 2022). Through information processing theory (IPT) within the pursuit of supply market intelligence (SMI), we achieve actionable knowledge and can therefore make informed decisions regarding the products (Lorentz et al., 2020). The priority product groups within which the SMI is conducted are personal protective equipment (PPE) such as facemasks, gloves, and gowns, as well as syringes and needles, and sharps containers. To minimise uncertainty and establish credibility within the bio-based supply market, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of these products is conducted to demonstrate the environmental impacts and compare the products with conventionally produced counterparts. The research objectives of this paper are as follows: 1. Evaluate the technical and economic viability for use in humanitarian medical context of selected bio-based alternatives through SMI 2. Assess the environmental impacts of selected bio-based and conventional alternatives using LCA to establish environmental sustainability potential