Gloves included in the Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare
Nursing homes and care homes produce an average of 738 kilograms of waste per occupied bed per year. Through the Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare, developed by the Environmental Platform for Healthcare Sector (MPZ), healthcare institutions can take steps to make their institution/organization more sustainable based on verifiable requirements.
Why the Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare is strategically relevant
The Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare helps healthcare organizations work towards climate-neutral and circular operations. Themes such as waste, raw materials, and sustainable procurement are concretely translated into verifiable requirements.
Requirement 14.3 makes gloves strategic
Non-sterile (disposable) gloves are explicitly included in Theme 14 “Green Healthcare Process” of the Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare.
This makes gloves more than just an everyday consumable product, giving them a clear role within the organization's sustainability policy.
How Gloovy aligns with MPZ requirements
“Gloovy Purecycle” is designed to be fully circular. The gloves are made from recyclable material (unlike conventional gloves), are produced more sustainably, and are part of an organized return and processing stream. Used gloves are collected and processed into new raw materials. This results in a CO₂ reduction of approximately 70% and water savings of about 50 liters per box of 100 gloves compared to conventional alternatives.
The link with sustainable procurement and tenders
The Environmental Thermometer for Healthcare looks beyond just product choice. In requirement 10.1, MPZ requests an up-to-date plan for sustainable and circular procurement. For the highest performance level, sustainability must explicitly be considered in tenders or applied as a knock-out criterion.
A glove with demonstrable CO₂ reduction and substantiated LCA analyses makes sustainable procurement concrete and verifiable. Gloovy's impact figures have been independently analyzed (in accordance with ISO 14040 & 14044) and are available to support certification and tenders, where sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor.
From theory to practice:
Over the past 12 months, Gloovy, together with Het Laar in Tilburg, has developed a scalable collection method for used gloves. This approach is now being applied on a larger scale there and serves as a 'best practice' for other healthcare institutions. The collection bins are financed by Gloovy in exchange for a purchase commitment, allowing organizations to switch to this circular model without additional investment.
Development towards version 5.0
Gloovy will launch version 5.0 at the end of this year. While version 4.0 still left room for improvement in terms of quality, fit, and reliability, version 5 has been specifically optimized in these areas for daily use in healthcare.
Samples of version 5.0 are available. If interested, we will gladly send them to you for testing within your organization.
Sources
Environmental Platform Healthcare – Environmental Thermometer Healthcare
Environmental Thermometer Healthcare - MPZ, together for sustainable healthcare
Environmental Platform Healthcare – Requirement 14.3 More sustainable non-sterile gloves
More sustainable non-sterile gloves - MPZ, together for sustainable healthcare
Environmental Platform Healthcare – Requirement 10.1 Plan and evaluation of sustainable procurement
Plan and evaluation of sustainable procurement - MPZ, together for sustainable healthcare
Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare – Renewed Environmental Thermometer Healthcare
Green Deal Sustainable Healthcare
Environmental Barometer – Sector averages for care homes and nursing homes
Environmental Barometer