Unpacking the plastic pandemic: From policy gaps to practical solutions in healthcare

What happens when the very systems built to protect our health contribute to one of the planet’s most pressing environmental crises? In this Health Industry Hub podcast, Roger Sharp, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer at Bupa Asia Pacific, peels back the layers of the healthcare sector’s environmental footprint and challenges the industry to take a hard look at itself.

Marking World Environment Day 2025 and its theme Beat Plastic Pollution, Sharp offers a timely and candid exploration of what this means in the healthcare context, where the contradiction between care and waste is impossible to ignore.

While the governments has signalled a policy shift with the launch of the National Health and Climate Strategy and the Climate and Health Advisory Group, the pace of progress has been frustratingly slow.

He shares key insights from Bupa’s recent report with Health Care Without Harm, which lays bare the scale of waste generated by the sector. But the conversation goes deeper, probing how Australia stacks up against its regional and global counterparts.

Sharp reveals the tangible steps Bupa is taking across its operations – from reducing waste to embedding sustainability into its business. And for organisations still on the sidelines, he offers a clear-eyed message: it’s time to move from intention to implementation.

Looking ahead, Sharp outlines the trends and technologies that could radically shift the sustainability landscape in healthcare over the next five years. It’s a conversation that dares to ask tough questions and points to what’s possible when purpose and progress align.

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