Healthcare Sustainability Requirements: What's Coming Next

If you work in European healthcare, you already know the sector is changing. From tighter ESG expectations and new regulations to rapid advances in technology, healthcare organisations are under pressure to adapt. Together, these shifts are raising the bar on healthcare sustainability requirements and changing what it means to be a future-fit business across Europe. 

This article explores five of the key shifts and what they mean for your organisation. For each one, we’ll look at how Kyocera can help you prepare for change, along with a question worth putting to your own team. 

Five Shifts Reshaping European Healthcare

1. Value chain emissions data is being demanded

The trend

Companies are increasingly expected to understand and report the emissions linked to their business, including those generated across their supply chains. The EU has changed the rules around who needs to do this under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Since March 2026, fewer companies are required to report, and those still covered have more time to prepare. The next group will report on their 2027 financial year, with reports due in 2028. 

What it means for you

For healthcare organisations, the message is simple: even if your organisation does not have to report under CSRD, your customers, partners or suppliers might. Understanding your emissions and the environmental impact of your supply chain is therefore becoming increasingly important. 

How Kyocera helps

Kyocera's emissions targets and CDP recognition provides you with documented environmental information that you can use in their own reporting and procurement processes. 

Ask yourself

If a customer or auditor asked for the emissions data behind your document infrastructure tomorrow, could you provide a reliable answer? 

2. Procurement is scoring lifespan

The trend

Device lifespan is becoming an increasingly important consideration when healthcare organisations evaluate equipment. Longer-lasting devices can reduce the need for replacement equipment, parts and engineer visits, supporting more efficient use of resources across the hospital estate. 

What it means for you

When comparing equipment, your procurement teams need evidence that shows how long a device and its key components are designed to last, alongside the resources required to maintain them. 

How Kyocera helps

Kyocera has designed ECOSYS technology around long-life components since 1992. This approach is designed to extend device life and limit the frequency of engineer visits or replacements. Kyocera also applies Life Cycle Assessment methodology during product development to assess environmental impacts across a product's lifecycle. 

Ask yourself

How much weight does expected device lifespan carry in your next tender, and can your current supplier provide evidence for its claims? 

3. Sustainable packaging and clinical waste are requirements

The trend

Healthcare organisations are placing greater emphasis on reducing waste and using recyclable packaging for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Circular economy principles are extending this focus to the equipment and consumables used across healthcare facilities. 

What it means for you

Waste management is becoming part of the sustainability picture for healthcare organisations. That means understanding how used consumables, retired equipment and packaging are collected, recycled or disposed of, and being able to provide evidence of those processes. 

How Kyocera helps

Kyocera's toner and hardware recycling schemes provide a documented route for end-of-life consumables and devices. Sustainable packaging is also part of Kyocera's wider ESG initiatives across its European operations, giving customers information they can use when tracking and reporting waste. 

Ask yourself

Where do your used toner cartridges, retired devices and equipment packaging currently go, and could you provide evidence of their end-of-life journey?  

4. A more diverse, supported workforce is essential

The trend

Europe could face a shortage of almost one million healthcare workers by 2070, according to Eurostat. As workforce pressures grow, the social side of ESG emphasises employee safety, skills development and diversity in leadership. The technology healthcare workers use also has a role to play by making everyday tasks easier to manage. 

What it means for you

Healthcare technology needs to work for people with different levels of experience and language backgrounds. Equipment that takes too long to learn can add pressure to already stretched teams, particularly in organisations with an increasingly international workforce. 

How Kyocera helps

Kyocera takes a human-centric approach to product design, with intuitive interfaces built into the user experience from the start. Standard Kyocera multifunction printers support between 10 and 23 languages, helping new and international colleagues learn the devices quickly while maintaining consistent document workflows and security. 

Ask yourself

How much training time does your current equipment require from someone joining your organisation today? 

5. Document governance is becoming more critical

The trend

Healthcare organisations are handling increasing volumes of sensitive information, while expectations around data protection, accountability and access control continue to grow. 

What it means for you

Every stage of a document's journey needs to be controlled and traceable. Your organisation needs to know who can access sensitive information, where it is stored and what happens when it is printed or shared. 

How Kyocera helps

MyQ X and Kyocera Cloud Capture help organisations control and track document workflows, with features that record activities such as who captured or released a document and when. This creates a clearer audit trail around sensitive information and helps organisations maintain greater control over document processes. 

Ask yourself

If you needed to trace the journey of a sensitive patient document, could your current systems show you who handled it and when? 

You Should Prepare Now Rather Than Later

These five shifts are changing what healthcare organisations need from their equipment, infrastructure and suppliers, and the healthcare sustainability requirements behind them are only tightening. But they also point to a bigger shift: sustainability, efficiency and resilience are becoming part of how organisations need to think about their day-to-day operations. 

Kyocera has taken a long-term approach to these challenges. Since 1959, we have focused on developing durable products and setting environmental targets against international standards. For healthcare organisations, that means having a partner that can help turn changing expectations into practical improvements. 

The place to start is with the infrastructure you already have. Look at how your equipment and document workflows perform today, where resources are being used and where there is room to improve. Small changes can make a meaningful difference now while helping your organisation prepare for what comes next.