Lessons learned from medical device refurbishment in the context of the RoHS Directive

Abstract

The medical sector has requested an exemption from the substance restrictions of Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2) for refurbished devices. Through global refurbishment practices, many of the larger medical devices are collected, refurbished and then resold to new end-users. Such practices are particularly of interest at present, in light of their contribution to the circular economy. Refurbishment prolongs the service lives of products, giving added benefit to resources that have already been used, as well as to the end-users who purchase them.