Abstract
Purpose of this paper
Hospitals are an important part of human lives and have played a vital role in increasing the overall quality of life. However, they are increasingly contributing to environmental degradation. Coker and Sridhar (2010) found a direct correlation between environmental degradation and raise in the number of urban hospitals in Nigeria. Poverty and lack of resources has been identified as the primary reason for improper medical waste management in the healthcare sector (Chisholm, et al., 2021). Green procurement is a way of improving environment by considering green issue in the product and services being purchased (Ayimba and Awuor, 2022). Organisations are now using green procurement practices or criteria when selecting suppliers (UNEP,2021). Song et al., (2017) found a positive relationship between green procurement and firm performance of Chinese firms. Globally green procurement practices are being implemented by different sectors such as manufacturing and construction (Quyen, 2020). The health sectors can also improve the environment by adopting green procurement practices in cooperating criteria such as green specification, green supplier selection, environmental and biodegradable materials and packaging in procurement processes (Wilburn et al., 2021)
Malawi is a landlocked country with limited resources and healthcare is undeveloped. It is heavily dependent on imports and have limited domestic manufacturing capabilities. The health care system in Malawi consists of public, private for profit (PFP) and Private for Non-Profit (PNFP) organisations. Public sector in healthcare is free and organized into three tiers – primary, secondary and tertiary levels. There tertiary level consists of four central hospitals located and are the largest and most advanced Government funded hospital in Malawi.
Research Aims
The purpose of this research is to examine the perception, practices and challenges related to the adoption of green procurement in Malawian hospitals. The research would explore the potential impact of green procurement practices on waste management effectiveness of the hospitals. Of the four top tier hospitals – two has been chosen for this study – Queens Central Hospital and Kamuzu Central hospital. They are in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Design Methodology and Approach
Case study methodology will be adopted due to the exploratory nature of research and the need for gaining in-depth understanding about green procurement practices and waste management activities. Interviews with key stakeholders from both the hospitals (Queens and KCH) coupled with relevant organizational data such as waste and procurement data will be gathered for this study. Government regulations and policy documents related to procurement of goods will also be analysed to examine the policy related to green procurement and waste management. Key stakeholder interviews consist of hospital director, officers from procurement, waste management, pharmacy, and environmental teams will be interviewed. Officers from ministry of health will also be interviewed to gain a multi stakeholder perception.
Findings (200 words)
We have completed interview with Kamuzu Central Hospital and hoping to complete the data collection by end of March. Hospitals purchase of items can be broadly grouped into the following categories.
Preliminary findings indicate that there is no organisation wide green procurement policy. However, there is a move towards sustainability because of the pressure from the donors and from other hospital policies such as infectious and disease management, waste management and environmental policy. Hospitals in Malawi do not evaluate suppliers using green criteria because the standard bid document do not specify such criteria. Most of the suppliers are overseas and they operate as per international standards. However, waste management is a challenge as they don’t have enough capacity to incinerate the waste which is generated despite having a situation whereby demand is more than supply. Additionally, there’s lack of collaboration when buying goods and most of the employees are not trained and not aware about waste handing procedures e.g. segregation of waste. This result in knowledge gap as far as green procurement is concerned and the pressure to adopt sustainability practices mainly come from donors who fund specific initiatives.
Value (minimum 100 words):
Procurement is the ideal lever for the adoption of sustainability practices. Largest hospitals in Malawi have been chosen for this study and they generate majority of the hospital waste in the country. Perhaps this is the first research that has undertaken in-depth analysis about the current state of green procurement practices in Malawian hospitals. The findings of this research will be an ideal benchmark to understand where they are regarding green procurement. The recommendations will be useful for policy makers and hospital managers in combating waste and reduce environmental degradation. The research will apply stakeholder theory to examine the interests and challenges resulting in the development of holistic recommendations. The conclusions and recommendations provided in this research may have relevance for other developing nations where the level of green procurement adoption is low.
Hospitals are an important part of human lives and have played a vital role in increasing the overall quality of life. However, they are increasingly contributing to environmental degradation. Coker and Sridhar (2010) found a direct correlation between environmental degradation and raise in the number of urban hospitals in Nigeria. Poverty and lack of resources has been identified as the primary reason for improper medical waste management in the healthcare sector (Chisholm, et al., 2021). Green procurement is a way of improving environment by considering green issue in the product and services being purchased (Ayimba and Awuor, 2022). Organisations are now using green procurement practices or criteria when selecting suppliers (UNEP,2021). Song et al., (2017) found a positive relationship between green procurement and firm performance of Chinese firms. Globally green procurement practices are being implemented by different sectors such as manufacturing and construction (Quyen, 2020). The health sectors can also improve the environment by adopting green procurement practices in cooperating criteria such as green specification, green supplier selection, environmental and biodegradable materials and packaging in procurement processes (Wilburn et al., 2021)
Malawi is a landlocked country with limited resources and healthcare is undeveloped. It is heavily dependent on imports and have limited domestic manufacturing capabilities. The health care system in Malawi consists of public, private for profit (PFP) and Private for Non-Profit (PNFP) organisations. Public sector in healthcare is free and organized into three tiers – primary, secondary and tertiary levels. There tertiary level consists of four central hospitals located and are the largest and most advanced Government funded hospital in Malawi.
Research Aims
The purpose of this research is to examine the perception, practices and challenges related to the adoption of green procurement in Malawian hospitals. The research would explore the potential impact of green procurement practices on waste management effectiveness of the hospitals. Of the four top tier hospitals – two has been chosen for this study – Queens Central Hospital and Kamuzu Central hospital. They are in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Design Methodology and Approach
Case study methodology will be adopted due to the exploratory nature of research and the need for gaining in-depth understanding about green procurement practices and waste management activities. Interviews with key stakeholders from both the hospitals (Queens and KCH) coupled with relevant organizational data such as waste and procurement data will be gathered for this study. Government regulations and policy documents related to procurement of goods will also be analysed to examine the policy related to green procurement and waste management. Key stakeholder interviews consist of hospital director, officers from procurement, waste management, pharmacy, and environmental teams will be interviewed. Officers from ministry of health will also be interviewed to gain a multi stakeholder perception.
Findings (200 words)
We have completed interview with Kamuzu Central Hospital and hoping to complete the data collection by end of March. Hospitals purchase of items can be broadly grouped into the following categories.
Preliminary findings indicate that there is no organisation wide green procurement policy. However, there is a move towards sustainability because of the pressure from the donors and from other hospital policies such as infectious and disease management, waste management and environmental policy. Hospitals in Malawi do not evaluate suppliers using green criteria because the standard bid document do not specify such criteria. Most of the suppliers are overseas and they operate as per international standards. However, waste management is a challenge as they don’t have enough capacity to incinerate the waste which is generated despite having a situation whereby demand is more than supply. Additionally, there’s lack of collaboration when buying goods and most of the employees are not trained and not aware about waste handing procedures e.g. segregation of waste. This result in knowledge gap as far as green procurement is concerned and the pressure to adopt sustainability practices mainly come from donors who fund specific initiatives.
Value (minimum 100 words):
Procurement is the ideal lever for the adoption of sustainability practices. Largest hospitals in Malawi have been chosen for this study and they generate majority of the hospital waste in the country. Perhaps this is the first research that has undertaken in-depth analysis about the current state of green procurement practices in Malawian hospitals. The findings of this research will be an ideal benchmark to understand where they are regarding green procurement. The recommendations will be useful for policy makers and hospital managers in combating waste and reduce environmental degradation. The research will apply stakeholder theory to examine the interests and challenges resulting in the development of holistic recommendations. The conclusions and recommendations provided in this research may have relevance for other developing nations where the level of green procurement adoption is low.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | International Symposium on Logistics |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 13 978-0-85358-354-7 |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Jul 2024 |
