Category: News

Irish start-up HaPPE Earth has created a sustainable alternative to PPE- to reduce healthcare carbon emissions

8 February, 2023 (updated 8 February, 2023) | By Caroline McGarry | 0 Comments

Read the Irish Examiner article on how Cork entrepeneurs developed a compostable PPE apron to reduce plastic waste

Cork entrepreneurs develop compostable PPE apron to reduce plastic usage

Lisa O’Riordan, Co-founder HaPPE Earth, Johnny Brackett HCA, Niamh Allen, HIHI Clinical Liaison and HSE Clinical Nurse Manager, Dr Mary O’Riordan, Co-founder HaPPE Earth, Lily Matthews, Clinical Nurse Manager 1 Picture: Jim McCarthy

TUE, 07 FEB, 2023 – 17:30

JACK WHITE

Two Cork entrepreneurs have developed a compostable PPE apron which disintegrates in just five weeks compared to traditional PPE gear which takes up to 50 years to degrade.

Cousins Dr Mary O’Riordan and Lisa O’Riordan developed the compostable apron in response to a doubling of the amount of plastic pollution generated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The apron, which is suitable for use in healthcare settings, was developed under their start-up HaPPE Earth and has been piloted at Cork’s South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital.

Dr O’Riordan has worked in clinical medical practice for 18 years, the last eight of those involved with Public Health Medicine, specialising in Emergency Response for Highly Emerging, Infectious Threats.

“As a result of Covid, it became very important to me and my co-founders that we take immediate steps to tackle the single-use plastic increase due to PPE usage, and so HaPPE Earth was born,” she said.

Compared to the standard LDPE apron, which is used across healthcare and takes about 50 years to degrade, the HaPPE apron degrades in just five weeks while offering the same level of protection to healthcare professionals and patients.

The apron reduces the carbon footprint of a standard apron by more than 75% through the use of local transport and manufacturing. Made of compostable resin, it also ensures no waste in the manufacturing process while the manufacturing plant itself uses sustainable energy for production.

It was one of 11 winners of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) Open Call 2022 and as a result, the HIHI conducted a pilot assessment of the apron in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork.

The HaPPE Aprons were tested for wearability, acceptability, sustainability and durability across two wards as well as the hospital catering and kitchen services. The co-founders of HaPPE Earth said it was “invaluable” to see the apron used by staff in a hospital.

“It is through collaboration like this that we bring practical solutions to our health system. We want to make an impact on sustainability within healthcare — the HIHI programme is extremely well organised and supportive, we were delighted to be part of it,” they said.

HIHI Director Dr Tanya Mulcahy said it is important to look at innovative products that reduce carbon emissions while maintaining safety to make an impact. She said the apron has been proven to be safe and equivalent to current PPE and hopes to see it used across the entire healthcare system.

Read about HaPPe Earth’s sustainable alternative to PPE featured in today’s Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41065925.html

Read Silicon Republic’s article on All-island project aims to improve procurement of Irish medtech SMEs

31 January, 2023 | By Caroline McGarry | 0 Comments

All-island project aims to improve procurement of Irish medtech SMEs

by Leigh Mc Gowran

The All-Island Medtech SMEs project plans to improve medtech adoption in secondary care across Ireland’s healthcare systems.

A new cross-border partnership aims to push past the procurement barriers impacting medtech SMEs and public healthcare systems.

The All-Island Medtech SMEs (AIMS) is bringing together various stakeholders such as businesses and academics.

The project’s overall goals are to develop a framework to support procurement and improve medtech adoption in secondary care across the Republic and Northern Ireland.

The project is being delivered by Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) and the Health Innovation Research Alliance in Northern Ireland (HIRANI).

HIHI national director Dr Tanya Mulcahy said smaller businesses are often “precluded from the procurement process”.

“AIMS will look at how we can address barriers such as these so that indigenous medtech can scale and grow and our health systems can choose from a wider pool of innovation,” Mulcahy said.

MedTech Innovator is a nonprofit global competition for medical and digital health tech companies. Last May, MedTech Innovator CEO Paul Grand told SiliconRepublic.com that he saw Ireland as one of the strongest performing countries in the innovator every year. Ireland had the highest representation of any country in the 2022 innovator.

“The Irish medtech ecosystem, particularly in Galway and Dublin, is amazing,” Grand said. Many MedTech Innovator companies that made it to the finals over the years have been from Ireland.”

HIRANI programme manager Dr Siobhán McGrath said the AIMS project is ambitious because the members can see ways to ensure Irish medtech SMEs “thrive in the indigenous market”.

“Through creating a network of health stakeholders North and South, capturing common challenges, sharing knowledge in relation to all-island supply chains and procurement channels, we can deliver this,” McGrath said.

AIMS is funded by InterTradeIreland’s Synergy initiative, which aims to boost cross-border collaboration among SMEs and other groups such as universities, third sector organisations and government agencies.

Last year, the Synergy initiative supported a series of cross-border networking events, with the goal of boosting collaboration between tech start-ups in the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Health Innovation Hub Ireland national director Dr Tanya Mulcahy. Image: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision