Oliver Hunt

Founder of Medsalv, Christchurch, NZ

Medsalv was founded in late 2017 as a Master of Engineering Management Project at the University of Canterbury. In the two years since its inception Medsalv has led the way towards sustainable healthcare in New Zealand, and has generated substantial cost and waste reductions for surgical hospitals through the reprocessing of single-use medical devices.  Reprocessing single-use medical devices is the practice of inspecting, cleaning, function testing, sterilizing and packaging devices so that they can be clinically and safely used again – instead of going to landfill after one use. Medsalv was recognised for its work towards a circular economy and for its social employment policies in 2019, taking away the ‘Going Circular’ Award at the Sustainable Business Network National Awards, and the ‘Business for Good’ Award at the Canterbury Champion awards.  Reprocessing by Medsalv has diverted thousands of devices from landfill, with an average of over 5 extra uses per device generating an over 80% reduction in potential waste for devices currently being reprocessed. 

---