Sustainability of Medical Gowns Supply Chain Management in the Post-covid Era

Medical textiles comprise many patient care items, including bed linens, personal protective equipment, dressings, and implantable surgical devices. Medical gownsMedical gowns protect perioperative personnel from microorganisms and contamination related to the patient’s body fluids. At the same time, the gowns protect patients from microbial contamination by surgical personnel. Gowns are predominantly single-useSingle-use, made of polymer plastic-based synthetic fibers, low cost and able to provide protection against pathogens. Despite growing environmentalEnvironmental concerns with single-useSingle-use plastic-based devices, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has seen a significant and generalized increase in the use of disposable medical devices, including medical gownsMedical gowns, which could result in a further surge of plastic and microplastic pollution. The paper aims to review the nature of the raw materials involved in the productionProduction, the manufacturingManufacturing techniques and the supply chainSupply Chain of medical gownsMedical gowns. The environmentalEnvironmental impacts in the valueValue chain are identified from productionProduction to consumptionConsumption, focusing on water use, chemical pollution, CO2 emissions, and waste. The need for fundamental changes in the businessBusiness model is outlined, including increased usage of recyclableRecyclable medical gownsMedical gowns. The adoption of a circular management approach can address existing supply chainSupply Chain “bottlenecks”, establish better waste managementWaste management, promote the use of sustainable materials and local processes with minimized associated environmentalEnvironmental problems.