D5.1 SOPs for Product Use, Reuse, Recycling, Reverse Logistics, and Recovery in Field Hospitals and EMTs

This document is a deliverable of the WORM Project, funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 101135392.
This document aims to provide standardised guidelines for more circular use of materials and products, as well as appropriate waste management for emergency medical teams and field hospitals. Waste from medical facilities requires careful segregation to ensure safe disposal for both public health and the environment. Many current disposal methods, especially in precarious contexts where field hospitals are often deployed, do not meet health and safety standards. Open burning and unregulated incineration, as well as improper disposal of fossil-fuel-based materials, generate air pollution and release harmful particulate matter into the environment.

These SOPs focus on needs-based product use at the field-operation level. Procurement decisions and guidelines (D2.2) are therefore highly influential for the SOPs. This document provides clear guidelines for the use sustainable use of equipment and materials to minimise waste, along with reuse, maintenance and repair processes. Many of these processes require collaboration with local partners, including waste management companies, recycling facilities, informal waste pickers, and equipment and material suppliers. These partnerships will carry over with the handover process, for which WORM has compiled an additional set of SOPs (D5.3) 
These SOPs follow the guiding principle of humanitarian aid: do no harm. WORM extends the do-no-harm principle to the environment by implementing circularity and sustainability into processes by design. The SOPs also ensure accountability and transparency throughout the process, thanks to the standardisation opportunity throughout the sector.