Integrating blockchain in the healthcare sector: Adoption and challenges for sustainable waste management

Healthcare waste management suffers from limited transparency, weak traceability, and compliance challenges, leading to significant environmental and public health risks. Blockchain technology offers a potential solution by enabling secure, immutable, and auditable waste-tracking systems. This study examines the key factors influencing the adoption of blockchain in sustainable healthcare waste management and assesses suitable blockchain platforms for implementation. An integrated multi-method framework—fuzzy best–worst method, interpretive structural modeling, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) was applied to analyze expert judgments from healthcare, industry, academia, and blockchain specialists. The findings indicate that data privacy concerns, scalability limitations, a lack of organizational support, and regulatory ambiguity are the most significant barriers. DEMATEL identifies organizational support and regulatory clarity as major causal drivers. The study offers actionable insights for policymakers and healthcare organizations to prioritize regulatory reforms, capacity-building, and infrastructure investment to enable blockchain-driven waste management systems.