Modeling the Carbon Emission Implications of Single-Use Medical Device Remanufacturing: A Stakeholder-Responsibility Perspective

Single-use medical devices (SUMDs) are widely used across the healthcare sector and can be remanufactured over multiple use cycles. Remanufacturing offers a triple-win outcome, yielding economic, environmental and social benefits. However, the carbon implications of recovery, quality rejection and repeated use have rarely been examined together through operational factors associated with different stakeholders. To address this gap, this study develops a mathematical model that quantifies how key operational factors affect carbon emissions from a stakeholder-responsibility perspective. First, carbon emissions under two extreme scenarios are benchmarked, which provide upper and lower bounds for subsequent analysis and comparison. Second, the model separately quantifies the carbon implications of three stakeholder-influenced factors: the recovery rate, the quality rejection rate and the number of use cycles. Third, a comprehensive model incorporating all three factors is established to assess their combined effects on carbon emissions. The scenario results quantify how recovery, quality rejection, and the maximum number of uses affect emissions within the stated model boundary. By relating these operational factors to activities influenced by hospitals, remanufacturers, and original equipment manufacturers, the model supports coordinated scenario assessment without measuring or allocating exclusive shares of stakeholder carbon responsibility.