ENKORE is an interdisciplinary European scientific project planned for 2025–2028, implemented under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)—a public-private partnership funded by the EU that supports the development of innovative healthcare solutions. The project’s central objective is to create the foundation for sustainable, circular, and safe medicines, their packaging, and medical devices. The ENKORE consortium brings together 52 partners from 15 EU countries, the UK, and the USA.

The main goal of ENKORE is to develop eco-design frameworks that will enable the creation of safe and environmentally friendly pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and their packaging –reducing their carbon footprint and optimizing resource use. By integrating circular economy technologies from the design phase to the product end-of-life stage, the project ensures sustainability without compromising the strict safety and biocompatibility standards required in healthcare.

Key focus areas of ENKORE:

🔹 RUC1 – Circular design of injection devices
🔹 RUC2 – Recycling of single-use medical products
🔹 RUC3 – Optimization of sterilization processes and packaging materials
🔹 RUC4 – Development of biodegradable cellulose-based packaging
🔹 RUC5 – Scaling up medical waste recycling in hospitals

As part of this initiative, the Medical University of Lodz (MUL) contributes its expertise and infrastructure, including the Medication Adherence Research Center, Living Lab, and the ecoUMED project. This ensures that ENKORE’s sustainability efforts remain patient-centered and aligned with real-world healthcare challenges.

More about the ENKORE project: https://enkoreproject.eu/

From left to right: Dr. Pawel Lewek,  Prof. Anna Lipert, and Prof. Przemyslaw Kardas represented MUL at the ENKORE Project Kick-Off Meeting, held on January 30–31, 2025, at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Madrid.