Aquaporin joins KitNewCare to enhance kidney healthcare across Europe
A new EU-funded project – KitNewCare – aims to help health and care systems better embrace environmental sustainability and climate-neutrality, with a focus on kidney care. Aquaporin joins the project that runs to December 2027.
At the heart of this initiative is a pressing issue: healthcare systems are significant contributors to carbon emissions, accounting for approximately 5-11% of the total at global level. Within this context, kidney care emerges as an ideal candidate for systemic change due to its substantial disease burden, resource footprint, and well-defined care pathways and ecosystem.
Aquaporin is a part of the KitNewCare initiative, and with our core technology and energy-efficient filter membranes, our ambition is to make dialysis more sustainable. The Vice President of Open Innovation at Aquaporin, Jörg Vogel, sees a lot of possibilities in this project.
“With the Aquaporin technology, we want to be a part of a change to create a more sustainable dialysis process. We have a new innovative technology that we believe can make a difference. Together with our partners we will test our biomimetic membranes and refine the green dialysis concept to enable first pilot studies within the consortium,” says Jörg Vogel.
KitNewCare is created to tackle the challenges head-on, identifying and addressing healthcare’s major health, environmental, financial, and social hotspots. The project goes beyond the traditional focus on building energy use – where carbon reduction has been historically concentrated – targeting the broader aspects of products, services, and pathways that form a significant part of the carbon footprint.
Decarbonizing the EU healthcare system
The KitNewCare project employs a systematic approach to pilot and benchmark interventions, holistically assessing their effectiveness and aligning with major EU initiatives that call for developing, implementing, and upscaling sustainable solutions throughout the healthcare landscape.
“The KitNewCare project represents a pivotal step towards aligning kidney care with sustainable healthcare goals, both at national level and in line with the EU Green Deal’s objectives,” stated Brett Duane, Project Coordinator and Principal Investigator at Trinity College Dublin, and continues:
“Our vision is to revolutionise healthcare practices by introducing sustainable technologies and methodologies that minimise environmental impact without compromising patient care. By embedding social responsibility and environmental consciousness into our work, we aim not only to improve patient outcomes but also pave the way for a more sustainable healthcare sector. We believe that KitNewCare, with the expertise of our European partners, will serve as a beacon of sustainability, inspiring others to adopt sustainable practices and foster a greener healthcare future.”
New standards in kidney care
A key element of KitNewCare’s approach involves a range of stakeholders – including patients, healthcare professionals, NGOs, industry partners, and policymakers. Integral to this approach is developing training and capacity-building materials and policy briefs and recommendations. The first initiative aims to train healthcare and care professionals across the EU in sustainable skills. The second initiative will offer guidelines to assist in developing policies and strategies to reduce carbon emissions in the EU healthcare system, both now and in the future.
Furthermore, establishing a Sustainability Network will ensure the implementation and upscaling of the project’s innovative approaches beyond its duration. The project commits to establishing evidence-based governance mechanisms, supported by life cycle assessments (LCAs), providing healthcare professionals tools for benchmarking and measuring sustainability improvements.
“We hope to be part of a solution that will help many people with kidney problems and at the same time preserves valuable resources. It is inspiring that so many stakeholders have joined forces to investigate how we can improve the current technology and practices,” says Jörg Vogel.
Ultimately, KitNewCare aspires to set new standards in kidney care – delivering high-quality, cost-effective, accessible, and sustainable solutions, including technical innovations. The project’s end vision extends beyond kidney care, aiming to influence other medical fields and contribute to a more sustainable future for the entire healthcare system.
About Aquaporin
Aquaporin is an innovative water technology company with operations in Denmark (HQ), Singapore, Turkey, the United States, and China. We are committed to rethinking water filtration with biotechnology to solve global water challenges. By combining three disciplines from the world of natural sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics, we have created the unique, nature-inspired Aquaporin Inside® technology which we embed into all our membranes and solutions. Our technology is based on Nobel Prize-winning research and is used to clean and reuse water in industries, in our homes, and even by NASA in space. We work with customers and partners around the globe to responsibly treat industrial wastewater, concentrate food and beverage products in a natural way, and enhance drinking water quality and accessibility.
For further information:
Jon Tolstrup Jensen
PR & Marketing Consultant
Direct +45 5355 5521
