Our circular economy actions include a wide range of topics from resource efficiency and use of secondary raw materials to value retention maximisation and end of life.

The following circular economy-related actions are taken in 2024:

• Design of hearing aids for reuse as testing hearing aids for users’ trial period: Designing a hearing aid intended for use by multiple individuals requires efforts to ensure compliance with the medical regulation and device sanitation requirements. We have designed and manufactured a testing hearing aid, known as the Demoflex, to be used by up to 50 users during a short trial period.

• Resource efficiency in hearing aids accessories: We are constantly striving to improve our hearing aids and accessories. Each of our hearing aids comes with a plastic container for storing small, replaceable filters that prevent earwax from entering the instrument. These filters need frequent replacement, as they accumulate wax. By enhancing the moulding process and redesigning the container, we have reduced plastic consumption per unit produced for the new version of the container by 53%. The new version was introduced in 2024 and will be used for all of the earwax filter containers from 2025 and forward.

• Use of secondary raw materials in packaging for diagnostic devices: To reduce the pressure on the extraction of virgin materials and waste generation, our Diagnostics business area has incorporated recycled materials into its packaging. In 2022, we started using recycled polyethylene plastic in the plastic bags we use in our global packaging. In 2024, the recycled content of our bags was on average 55.6%, and we used a total of 446 kg of recycled plastic. Moreover, the cardboard used in our packaging contains up to 98% recycled materials, representing more than 50 tons of recycled material.

The resource inflow and outflow are based on estimates, using internal and external data combined with assumptions, and is then extrapolated to the total population based on sales volumes and inventory movements. Key assumptions are for resource inflow including actual weight of the materials found in two hearing aids and then multiplied with the total sales. In-house subject matter experts are consulted to reduce the risk of over- or understating. However, as the reported numbers are based on generic assumptions, numbers are subject to change when we gain access to more accurate data.