The University of Hyderabad’s Department of Anthropology is participating in an international “After the Single Use” project, aimed at addressing the environmental and health impacts of single-use plastics in healthcare.
Funded by the Wellcome Trust with a £5.9 million Discovery Award, it brings together a global team of researchers from eight countries to explore the cultural, social, and environmental dimensions of medical plastics and promote circular healthcare economies, said an official release on Monday.
Associate Professor Nanda Kishore Kannuri will receive a grant of £422,608 (approximately ₹5,00,29,264) over a five-year period to contribute to this initiative. The project will examine the factors that have shaped the current healthcare waste crisis, analyse life cycles of disposable medical technologies, and collaborate with stakeholders concerned to develop sustainable solutions.
“We look forward to working with our international partners to develop innovative solutions that can be applied in diverse healthcare settings,” said Dr. Kannuri. Diverse healthcare settings, from aid posts in Papua New Guinea to hospitals in the USA and India, studying global inter-connections in healthcare waste, such as syringes manufactured in India being used in Senegal, and local solutions to reduce reliance on single-use plastics will be investigated.
The team has collaborators from the University of Edinburgh (UK), University of New South Wales (Australia), University of Geneva (Switzerland), University of Oslo (Norway), National Institute of Medical Research (Tanzania), CRCF (Senegal), PNG Institute of Medical Research (Papua New Guinea), and Johns Hopkins University (USA), as well as key NGO partners Health Care Without Harm and the Norwegian Bioart Arena, added the release.
Published – September 02, 2025 10:55 pm IST
