Looking at waste differently – repurposing healthcare waste in the construction industry

What is my research about?

My paper looked at whether offensive healthcare waste could be managed in a more circular way.

At the moment, this type of waste is mainly treated as something that needs to be disposed of. Our work asks whether, with the right segregation, treatment and processing, it could instead become a useful secondary material for construction applications.

What makes the project interesting to me is that it brings together two very different sectors: healthcare and construction.

The challenge is not only whether the material can technically be reused. It is also about whether the whole system can work in practice, from segregation and collection through to treatment, quality control and eventual use in construction.

Presenting the paper helped me explain that bigger picture more clearly.

My top three takeaways

1. Waste does not always have to be the end of the story

One of the strongest messages I took from the conference was how many researchers are looking at waste differently.

There were presentations on urban and mining waste being used in civil construction, packaging waste, composting and other forms of resource recovery.

What stood out to me was the idea that a material can still have value even after it has become a waste stream. Instead of asking how we get rid of it, we can ask whether it still has a useful purpose.

That really connects with what we are trying to do in our project.

2. Construction has a big role to play in circular economy thinking

Another takeaway was the amount of work happening around recovered materials and construction.

The construction sector uses huge amounts of material, so there is a real opportunity to look at where suitable secondary materials could replace part of the demand for virgin resources.

For me, this was particularly relevant because our work at NuGreen is looking at whether treated healthcare waste could potentially be used in construction applications.

It was encouraging to see that similar ideas are being explored with very different waste streams.

3. A good material on its own is not enough

This was probably the most useful takeaway for me.

A material may perform well in testing, but that does not automatically mean it can be used in the real world.

You also need to think about how the waste is collected, how it is treated, regulation, quality control, transport, cost and whether industry is willing to use the final material.

The conference reminded me that circular economy projects are really about systems, not just materials.

How will this help the project and the business?

The conference gave me a wider view of where our project fits within the bigger sustainability picture.

For the KTP, it reinforced the importance of looking at the whole pathway, not just the technical testing. We need to keep developing the material, but we also need to understand how the supply chain, regulation and commercial route could work alongside it.

For NuGreen Ltd, this is important because turning a difficult waste stream into something useful has to make sense technically, environmentally and commercially.

It was also really valuable for me personally to present the work to people outside the project team. Explaining the idea to a wider audience helped me think more clearly about the main message of the research and what really matters for the next stages.

Overall, attending ICSD 2026 was a very positive experience. I came away with new ideas, a better understanding of how other researchers are approaching waste and circular economy challenges, and more confidence in how our own project fits into that wider conversation.

The main message I took from the conference is quite simple: waste does not always have to be the end of a material’s life. With the right process and the right system around it, it can become the start of something new.