Medline Announces Annual ESG Report, Highlighting Growth in 2023

Medline shows commitment to furthering a more sustainable and inclusive future with second annual global ESG report. 

Arnhem, The Netherlands, Sept. 11, 2024 - 

Medline has put environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals at the heart of our operations—and that’s why we’re pleased to share Medline’s Global ESG Report 2023. This report is a testament to our commitment to sustainability, inclusivity, and responsible governance, and highlights the progress we’ve made towards our goal of creating a sustainable future for healthcare. 

‘At Medline, we recognise the need to deliver high-quality products, at great value, that are backed by strong ESG credentials,’ says Oliver Watts, ESG Director of Medline EMEA. 

‘As can be seen in this latest global ESG report, key EMEA-led sustainability initiatives are contributing to Medline's global efforts to make healthcare more sustainable. We will continue to invest in our ESG strategy and practices and look forward to sharing further insights in the future.’ 

Our four ESG pillars

Our commitment to ESG is guided by four key pillars. These pillars serve as a framework for our ESG-related initiatives, and help us set objectives against which we can measure our success:  

• Climate Resilience and Environmental Action: In 2023, we prioritised our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint with the MedShake Project. This project facilitated a re-coordination of our logistics facilities to provide dedicated servicing of their neighbouring geographies.
  
  Traditionally, Medline Europe has functioned through a centralised process where products would have to make multiple stopovers on route to customer delivery. It is estimated that these new logistic processes have reduced the total distance of trucking transport by some 500,000 km per year—that’s equivalent to 12.7 trips around the world. This reduction in emissions equates to 1,394 metric tonnes of eCO2 per year. 
• Responsible Products: In our pursuit of continuing to provide cutting-edge, industry-leading products, we continue to seek out innovative ways to improve upon our product lines to better fit within our commitment to ESG standards—without compromising on quality and effectiveness.  
  
  Additionally, we partnered with Intertek Health Sciences Inc. to provide third-party oversight in conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) on several products. The results from these LCAs enabled us to better understand the environmental footprints of key product lines. The initial exercise focused on analysing drapes and gowns, and the results of this study helped us find new and innovative methods to better optimise these products within our ESG objectives.  
• People and Communities: In 2023, we expanded upon our existing relationship with leading humanitarian charity Direct Relief to offer a broader scale of support. Building on the existing relationship between Medline U.S. and Direct Relief, Medline Europe and Medline Mexico also began supporting with surplus product donations. Through this international relationship, Direct Relief can ensure our products reach more people living in high-need areas who are threatened by disease, poverty, and disaster.  
   
  We also participated in the ‘Movember’ fundraising event once again. The event across the month of November encourages male employees to grow out their moustaches to generate donations and awareness for diseases that affect men, such as prostate and testicular cancer. Those who cannot grow moustaches can also participate in a ‘Mo Show’ photo campaign. The funds raised during this event were donated to the Movember Foundation, a leading charity that supports men’s health initiatives around the world. 
• Robust Governance: We not only do what is required—we also do what is right through holding our business, employees, and suppliers to high ethical standards. This includes a number of initiatives to ensure our shared goals and ways of working are upheld. 
   
  One of these new initiatives comes via a multi-year project, to encourage eligible first-tier suppliers in our supply chain to become Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)-certified. This initiative saw 22 of our glove supplies achieve this certification in the past year. WRAP promotes safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing around the world through a comprehensive audit and certification programme.  
   
  It is our intention to have all manufacturers of key product lines, such as examination and surgical gloves, sterilisation wraps, drapes, surgical and isolation gowns, boot covers, and headwear achieve this certification. As the world’s largest independent social compliance certification body for the textile and apparel industry, we believe that WRAP is the right partner for us as we share a common vision and set of standards to approach the future of our manufacturing processes.  

Medline’s global ESG report encompasses strategies and programmes across the 100+ countries and territories in which Medline operates. Review Medline’s Global ESG Report 2023 and learn more about Medline’s ESG efforts across the entire continuum of care by visiting: https://www.medline.eu/environmental-social-and-governance.  

About Medline Europe 
Medline Europe is an international manufacturer and global distributor of medical and surgical devices for use in a range of healthcare institutions along the continuum of care. It also provides the clinical and supply chain resources required for long-term financial viability in delivering high-quality care. With top-tier market share in more than a dozen major medical product categories, and over 1,500 employees throughout 16+ countries, Medline has built a reputation of consistently investing in the needs of its customer base and the healthcare industry at large. Its overall mission is to positively impact the market and industry through innovative, customisable, and readily available products, services, and solutions. Medline Europe is headquartered in Arnhem, the Netherlands and continues to expand through the newly launched Medline Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) business unit. Learn more about Medline Europe at www.medline.eu.