From Linear to Circular Economy: Health Implications of Sustainable Consumption and Production

To improve the integration of health considerations of the mainly positive but also partially negative potential impacts of circular economy implementations, WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a report “Circular Economy and Health – Opportunities and Risks” in August 2018. Based on this report, WHO arranged an international stakeholder meeting in Bonn, Germany, 12–13 November 2018. The expert consultation aimed to identify and provide practical guidance on how to integrate health into the development of circular economy strategies. The participants agreed that the health sector needs to be more pro-active and engage with all other relevant stakeholders to position health as an enabler of this development and ultimately, to address positive and negative health aspects for the best possible health outcome for all. Methods to assess health effects of CE actions are Environmental Impact Assessment as well as Strategic Environmental Assessment with a stronger focus on health, and Health Impact Assessment.