Chapter 9: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Circular Manufacturing for Healthcare

Healthcare as an essential human service is experiencing a serious challenge in the environment, with an estimated greenhouse gas emission contribution of 4% to 5% and 4.4% plastic waste from single-use medical equipment and energy-intensive procedures. Circular manufacturing provides a viable answer to the problem of sustainability; it leads to resource utilisation, which is an optimisation of waste and an extension of the lifecycle of materials. The chapter discusses the implementation of circular production in healthcare with the help of human and AI collaboration. AGI is improving circular practices by optimising resources and enabling predictive maintenance of equipment, sustainable material design which lowers emissions and adverse waste and by enhancing patient safety and regulatory compliance. Practical illustrations can be given through case studies that divert waste, and innovations such as biodegradable implants. Though obstacles have been raised, such as overregulation and the complications in product designs, AGI can bring rigorous organisation of logistics, increase the rate of material innovation and guarantee compliance as a force to change the structure of sustainable healthcare that aligns global sustainability missions.