RENEW: Circular Solutions for Medical Waste

Why medical waste?

Medical waste mismanagement in low resource areas is a major problem – leading to widespread pollution, disease, and unsafe reuse of syringes. Lacking proper disposal, communities face health crises and environmental devastation.

After a chance encounter with Harry Blakiston Houston, founder of PHI, Adam Beleage developed a solution with us that sterilises and repurposes medical waste, creating valuable materials and new medical supplies that can be re-sold at a fraction of market prices. It lowers medical costs, prevents disease, generates jobs and conserves the environment for vulnerable communities.

Info Pack (PDF)

Proposed Solution

A mobile sterilisation system tailored for low resource areas, allowing safe syringe sterilisation and repurposing.

This solution prevents infections and integrates informal waste management into structured employment, creating a circular economy that benefits both refugees and host communities.

Stories from the Ground

Click the video to see how Cox’s Bazar, host to 1 million refugees, is tackling the challenge of medical waste. Hear about the vast scale of the problem, and the healthcare workers risking their lives to safely dispose of hazardous materials.

More on our story and prototype success…

RENEW began with a chance encounter. In the autumn of 2024, Adam Beleage attended a talk Harry gave at the London Design Festival. Inspired by what he heard, he approached Harry afterwards with an idea he had been developing during his Masters degree: that medical waste, one of the most dangerous and overlooked problems in low-resource communities, could be transformed into an asset.

PHI supported Adam to develop RENEW: a mobile sterilisation system tailored for low-resource areas, capable of safe syringe sterilisation and repurposing. By integrating informal waste management into structured employment, RENEW was designed to create a circular economy that benefits both refugees and host communities: lowering medical costs, preventing disease, generating jobs, and conserving the environment.

During a trip to the Philippines to further research and develop his design, Adam was offered a consulting role in a local NGO so that his solution could be implemented in the field. Adam accepted.

His departure from PHI marks not an ending, but a graduation. An idea that began in university and found its feet through PHI now moves into the communities that need it most. We are proud to have played a part in that journey.