The Sustainable Healthcare Podcast

Join Joachim and guest Arne Kloke, Head of Service & Sustainability Management at SCHOTT Pharma and President of Alliance to Zero.They explore practical examples of using recycled materials in pharma inclduing a case with Takeda and Pfizer and the real barriers to circularity, and what the new EU Circular Economy Act could mean for the industry.You’ll hear concrete insights on device design, waste streams, collaboration models, and how the next wave of sustainable packaging is being built. Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction to quality management in pharma01:12 – Welcome to the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast01:21 – Meet Arne Clark: sustainability journey01:40 – Challenges and innovations in pharma sustainability02:54 – Personal insights and hobbies03:45 – Hope and collaboration in sustainability05:30 – Why sustainable practices matter06:30 – SCHOTT Pharma’s role in sustainability09:45 – Recycling and circular economy in pharma14:03 – Scaling sustainable solutions21:09 – Challenges in waste management and recycling30:29 – Alliance to Zero and the EU Circular Economy Act36:29 – Conclusion and call to action

Developmental prosopagnosia – also known as face blindness – affects an estimated 1–3% of the population, yet most people have never heard of it.In this special episode of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast, Frederik steps into the role of patient and speaks with psychologist and researcher Erling Nørkær about his own recent condition discovery and what it means to live in a world where faces don’t reliably “stick.”Together, Frederik and Erling unpack:What developmental prosopagnosia is – and how it differs from simply being “bad with names”How face recognition normally works in the brain, and what seems to go wrong in prosopagnosiaThe social and emotional consequences: fear of seeming rude, anxiety in crowds, and why modern life makes the condition harder to live withPractical coping strategies and how people learn to rely on clothing, context, voice, and other cues instead of facesWhy prosopagnosia is not yet a formal diagnosis, and what that means for patientsCurrent research efforts, including studies of infants of parents with prosopagnosia, and what this might reveal about early development and future interventionsIt’s a deeply personal conversation about neurodivergence, identity, and how better language and awareness can make everyday life less stressful for people with face blindness – in schools, workplaces, and healthcare.About our guest Erling Nørkær is a psychologist, PhD, and researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, specializing in developmental prosopagnosia – the reduced or absent ability to recognize faces.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erling-n%C3%B8rk%C3%A6r-0558a11b8/Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab (CopNL): https://psychology.ku.dk/research/research_groups/copnl/Research profile: https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/persons/erling-n%C3%B8rk%C3%A6r/

Planetary boundaries, wellbeing & healthcare with Mia Heide (WELA)What does it actually mean for human health that we’ve now exceeded 7 out of 9 planetary boundaries – up from 6 out of 9 in 2023 – and how should healthcare systems respond? In this episode, we're joined by Mia Heide, engineer and researcher at WELA – Wellbeing Economy Lab, to unpack the latest science and what it implies for policy, practice, and care pathways. Sustainable Healthcare Podcast …We talk about:What the planetary boundaries framework is – and why it’s about hard limits, not “nice-to-have” goalsThe new 2025 assessment showing we’ve transgressed 7/9 boundaries, and what changed since 2023How to downscale planetary boundaries to a country level (e.g. Denmark) using different sharing principles – equal per capita, capacity to reduce, historical responsibility, and “grandfathering” Why some principles give wealthy countries like Denmark a negative carbon budget, and why “equal” is not the same as “fair”The concept of decent living standards – what’s the minimum energy and material footprint needed to secure basic human needs globally? Health impacts of specific boundaries once we overshoot them, including:Climate change: extreme weather, heat stress, displacement and food securityFreshwater change: water scarcity, sanitation breakdown, conflict riskNovel entities (PFAS, microplastics, synthetic chemicals): cancer risk, hormone disruption, fertility impacts – and why this is hugely under-discussed in public health The uncomfortable paradox: we need to meet basic needs and stay within limits – and every tonne of CO₂ still countsWhy healthcare decarbonisation must be seen in a two-way relationship:Healthcare activities impact planetary boundariesOvershooting those boundaries, in turn, undermines population health and health system resilienceWhere Mia still finds motivation and drive in 2025 – and why “a different world is possible” is not just a sloganAbout our guest – Mia Heide & WELAMia Heide is an engineer and researcher at WELA – Wellbeing Economy Lab, a Danish, independent think tank working for a wellbeing economy where societal progress is measured by the ability to create good lives for all within planetary boundaries – now and for future generations.Resources & links mentionedMia’s working paper (in Danish)“Trivsel inden for de planetære grænser” – WELA working paper on planetary boundaries, wellbeing and health👉 WELA publications page: https://www.wellbeingeconomylab.com/udgivelserDecent living standards & minimum energyMillward-Hopkins et al. (2020): “Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario”👉 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307512Planetary boundaries & latest assessmentsRichardson et al. (2023) – updated assessment of the planetary boundaries (Stockholm Resilience Centre)Planetary Health Check 2025 – Executive Summary (global status update)👉 https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/PlanetaryHealthCheck2025_ExecutiveSummary.pdfIf you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a colleague, rate the show, or suggest future guests – it really helps us bring more voices like Mia’s into the sustainable healthcare conversation.