Digital Health in a Circular Economy (DiCE) is a project led by Janssen Pharmaceutica NV aiming to reduce digital health waste. It has launched in the start of October and will run till September 2026. From design to disposal, DiCE will focus on every point in the lifecycle of digital health devices. The project is funded by Horizon Europe programme of the European Union. In the DiCE collaboration, 20 organizations from nine countries represent the manufacturing, research, and recycling sectors.
It is predicted that the use of digital health devices will rise rapidly over the next five years, with global annual growth rates of almost 20% by 2027. According to the project, smart pill boxes, electronic blood collection devices, wearable monitors, and intelligent labels are increasingly being used to improve healthcare efficiency and patient safety, but these devices also pose a growing e-waste problem. DiCE says digital health devices contain valuable raw materials important to the European economy, as do many other electrical and electronic devices.