Quantitative analysis to identify circular economy concepts incorporated in Indian policy documents regulating waste management by the Indian Healthcare sector

There is limited clarity on whether policy regimes for managing waste in the healthcare sector are designed for circularity. Systematic evaluation of policy instruments is largely unavailable. How circular is India's policy regime on managing healthcare waste? Using an innovative analytical approach based on the 6Rs of circularity and the principles of BS8001:2017, this research question is answered by quantitatively analysing 41 policy instruments associated with the policy regime on managing healthcare waste in India. Content analysis reveals that the policy regime for managing healthcare waste in India is linear – the regime needs to be dramatically rehauled to ensure circularity. Only about 3 to 5 % of circular economy-related codes could be identified in the policy instruments studied by this article. Transitioning to more integrated, holistic, and systems-oriented circular economic practices will, therefore, require a paradigm shift in thinking.