Toward a More Sustainable Future in Ophthalmology

Why single use in ophthalmology is non-negotiable – and sometimes the more sustainable choice

Eye surgery – from cataract extraction and phacoemulsification to vitreoretinal procedures – demands sterility, reproducible material properties and complete documentation. Regulatory requirements are highly specific and can typically only be met with sterile-packaged, application-validated products.

Reusable solutions consistently fail in ophthalmology due to hygiene requirements, material fatigue and the risk of cross-contamination. Single-use products demonstrably reduce these risks – and actively contribute to patient safety. What is often overlooked: in some cases, single use is also the more sustainable option, because reprocessing reusable products itself consumes significant resources.

The industry therefore faces a clearly defined challenge: not less single use, but more sustainable single use. What is needed is not broad climate commitments, but partners who understand material, design and manufacturing process as an integrated system – and develop sustainable solutions on a product-specific basis.

Three levers for more sustainable ophthalmic consumables

Sustainability can be addressed across the entire product lifecycle – from development and manufacturing through to end-of-life disposal. For ophthalmic single-use products, however, optimization options at the end of the lifecycle are limited by regulatory requirements and established disposal pathways. The greatest and most actionable levers therefore lie in product development itself. This is where the decisive choices are made regarding future resource consumption, CO₂ footprint and circularity.

Material substitution as a lever for reducing the product carbon footprint

One of the most effective strategies for making ophthalmic single-use products more sustainable is the targeted substitution of fossil-based plastics with more sustainable polymer alternatives. Particularly relevant are so-called drop-in biopolymers: materials whose chemical structure and processing properties are identical to their fossil-based counterparts, but which are produced entirely or partially from renewable or circular raw materials.

The key advantage: because material properties remain largely unchanged, existing products can often be transitioned to more sustainable material variants without fundamental changes to design, tooling or manufacturing processes. This allows CO₂ emissions to be reduced along the value chain – without compromising functionality, quality or regulatory compliance.

For ophthalmic OEMs, this approach offers several concrete benefits:

• Reduction of the product carbon footprint through the use of bio-based or circular raw materials
• High material and process compatibility with existing manufacturing methods
• Lower qualification effort compared to switching to a different polymer class
• Retention of established mechanical, thermal and functional properties

ISCC PLUS: sustainably certified raw materials

A particularly notable approach involves ISCC PLUS certified materials (ISCC = International Sustainability & Carbon Certification). ISCC PLUS is an internationally recognized standard for sustainable supply chains. It enables manufacturers to use sustainable raw materials transparently and traceably within existing processes – without compromising quality or safety.

At the heart of the concept is the mass balance approach: sustainably sourced raw materials are introduced at the beginning of the value chain and certified along it. Their share is accounted for and attributed to the end product – without requiring separate production lines.

For users, this delivers the advantages of a drop-in material with high availability and scalability:

• Up to 71 % less CO₂ compared to conventional fossil-based plastics (depending on raw material basis and application – to be assessed on a product-specific basis)
• Full compatibility with existing manufacturing processes such as extrusion or injection molding
• Unchanged material properties and product performance
• Complete traceability: ISCC PLUS guarantees independently verified transparency of raw materials throughout the entire supply chain

Potential analysis: up to 56 % lower CO₂ footprint for tubing material

The potential of material substitution is illustrated by an internal RAUMEDIC analysis based on a tubing system used with a femtosecond laser. The study examined what impact replacing the existing tubing material with an ISCC PLUS-certified alternative would have on the product carbon footprint of the tubing component.

The result: the analysis identified a CO₂ reduction potential of up to 56 % for the tubing material compared to the conventional material variant – with no changes to geometry, material concept or manufacturing process.

This example demonstrates that switching to suitable alternative materials can unlock meaningful sustainability gains – even though the actual reduction at product level depends on the specific material proportions and product architecture involved.

This calculation shows that sustainability targets and medical device requirements need not be in conflict. Transitioning to an ISCC PLUS certified material can be carried out in a process-safe and reproducible manner, precisely because the material properties remain unchanged.

Sustainable product development with novel biopolymers

While drop-in biopolymers and ISCC PLUS certified materials are primarily an attractive solution for making existing products more sustainable, novel biopolymers open up additional possibilities in early-stage product development. Unlike drop-in alternatives, they represent new polymer classes whose chemical structure can differ significantly from established fossil-based polymers. This can affect not only origin and CO₂ footprint, but also processing, use and end-of-life properties.

For ophthalmic single-use products, this approach is particularly relevant where product design, material selection and manufacturing process are considered together from the outset. Novel biopolymers can, for example, open up potential for more resource-efficient components, tailored mechanical properties, optimized packaging solutions or new end-of-life concepts.

Unlike material substitution in existing products, the focus here is not primarily on replacing a fossil-based polymer with a chemically identical alternative. Instead, when developing a new single-use component, a novel biopolymer is selected with the specific application requirements in mind. This includes evaluating processability, sterilizability, biocompatibility, aging behavior, dimensional stability and regulatory suitability.

Design for Sustainability: engineering decisions with measurable impact

Alongside the selection of sustainable material alternatives, Design for Sustainability is today one of the most important levers for manufacturing excellence in ophthalmology – for example through reduced material input, fewer different materials, or a simplified product architecture that makes manufacturing and handling more efficient. Key decisions for more sustainable products can therefore be made as early as the development phase.

Many OEMs rely on standard components to control costs. The result: tubing lengths, diameters and component counts are often not tailored to the specific procedure, but systematically oversized – with corresponding consequences for material consumption. The “safety by bulk” approach also frequently leads to unnecessarily high material use. To avoid collapse effects (known as surge) during aspiration, for example, many manufacturers opt for thick-walled tubing or very rigid materials. Through application-specific design and targeted material selection, the same level of safety can often be achieved with significantly less material. This is precisely where innovative design can deliver meaningfully more sustainable components.

Intelligent design can maintain or even improve structural integrity and product performance – while simultaneously reducing material consumption.

50 % Less Material: Optimized Plunger Design Reduces Plastic Consumption

A customer project at RAUMEDIC illustrates this well. The goal was to analyze the geometry of a syringe plunger in detail and adapt it precisely to the actual requirements. 

Reducing Material Mix Through Functional Integration

A further key principle of Design for Sustainability is the targeted reduction of material variety. In more complex ophthalmic single-use components, the use of multiple materials and additional process steps is often driven not by the product’s function itself, but by the way it is assembled – for example through adhesives, additional fasteners or auxiliary materials. Through structural functional integration, these materials can be avoided: components are designed to snap, plug or click together mechanically rather than being permanently bonded. This reduces not only the number of materials used, but often also assembly effort. At the same time, it improves the conditions for cleaner material separation and more efficient end-of-life processing.

A concrete example from a RAUMEDIC project shows how sustainability can be actively promoted through design optimization. The central question was whether an established adhesive bond was actually necessary. 

Conclusion

Sustainability in ophthalmic surgery is not a question of whether – but of how. Single-use products are medically necessary in eye surgery and will remain so. What matters is how they are developed, what materials they are made from and how their supply chains are structured.

Material substitution based on ISCC PLUS certified drop-in biopolymers, design decisions guided by Design for Sustainability principles, and a transparent supply chain offer OEMs concrete, measurable approaches – without compromising performance, sterility or regulatory compliance. The examples presented here demonstrate that sustainability progress in ophthalmology is achievable today. Provided it is approached on a product-specific basis, and with the right partner.