This is what hospital sterilising wrap looks like when we do nothing:Mountains of single-use gowns and plastic textiles, piling up in landfill.
But this is what it looks like when you're doing something:Those same gowns, transformed into Cleanstone panels—durable, low-carbon, and ready to be installed in the next generation of healthcare spaces.
In Aotearoa, hospitals discard thousands of gowns and sterilisation wraps every week. A study across 51 ICUs in Australia and New Zealand found that a median of 10 gowns/aprons were disposed of per bed space per 12-hour shift, with approximately 25% of usage outside infection control guidelines, indicating unnecessary waste (Agency for Clinical Innovation)
And Critical. together with Jamie Henry and our mates at Interwaste (NZ) we've developed a new way to transform that waste into Cleanstone panels!
These panels are made from 100% recycled hospital sterilising wrap right here in Tāmaki Makaurau. And it's near carbon neutral, circular, and built to be reused, resurfaced, or returned.
And I'm excited because this simple step forward is about more than recycling—it's circular design for healthcare. Reducing carbon, keeping materials in the system, and telling a story patients and staff can stand behind.
If you're working in healthcare or healthcare design and want to build with your own waste I'd love to connect. You can book a time with me here: https://calendar.app.google/AVJBzctmdrmpZ6eV7 or jump on criticaldesign.nz - I'd love to help.
I think hospitals can heal more than patients!