Responsibility

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We strive to continually improve our environmental performance and are dedicated to developing, producing and providing our products and services in an environmentally sustainable way. We are committed to business practices that promote environmental protection.

Global Environmental Policy

Environmental management strategy in our regions

As a global player in the health care sector, our responsibility extends beyond our business operations. We monitor the environmental performance of our operations both regionally and globally, with the aim to use resources efficiently. At the same time, we need to ensure that the safety and quality of our products and services are not compromised. We fully conform with the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard at our Company headquarters, in our certified plants and at the certified national clinic organizations. We monitor national and international regulations concerning environmental issues on an ongoing basis so that out internal policies and manuals are up to date. We have established internal environmental standards, which we complement with external certification, if it adds value.

Environmental management at our production sites

We have set ourselves the goal of continuously improving the eco-efficiency of our production sites worldwide. For example, led by St. Wendel, our largest production site in Europe, we developed performance indicators for energy use and raw materials consumption to verify the environmental performance of our production processes. Additionally we implement projects like the construction of a gas turbine to generate energy in St. Wendel; it can supply about 90% of the site’s electricity needs and enables us to cut emissions on site by approximately 30%.

To continuously improve our environmental performance, we are involved in local sustainability projects which we report as part of our global Green & Lean initiative. These initiatives enable best practices to be shared between plants with a view to using natural resources efficiently and implementing environmentally sustainable operations.

Ecologically sustainable dialysis products

We are continuously endeavoring to make our products and processes more environmentally friendly, for example by using new materials with improved environmental properties or developing new technologies that further reduce the resource consumption of our dialysis machines. To enable us to improve and report on the company’s environmental performance, it is essential to track and analyze the impact of our products and services on the environment over their entire life cycle (ecological audit) which we have started to fulfill with the implementation of our “Comparative life cycle assessment” project, based on the IEC 60601-1-9 standard.

Our latest dialysis machine generations, the 5008 and 6008 series, are both designed to be more eco-efficient. These machines automatically adjust the dialysate flow to the patient’s blood flow, which allows us to save significant amounts of dialysate, water, and energy while maintaining a consistently high dialysis quality.

Recycling is one of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on our environment. Our dialysis machine recycling process helps with our mission to care for the well-being of our patients, our staff and our planet.

The first environmentally friendly products were introduced in 1996 with the stay.safe® CAPD system made of 100% Biofine®. Many other PVC-free products have followed since then. Biofine® has received global recognition, including a valuable certification from the Nordic Ecolabel organization. Biofine® is used in the majority of Fresenius Medical Care’s products for peritoneal dialysis.

Environmental management in our dialysis clinics

One of our core objectives is to further reduce the impact of dialysis treatment on the environment while saving on resources and ensuring cost efficiency. We manage this by using ecologically sustainable dialysis products as well as constructing environmentally friendly dialysis centers.

Across our dialysis clinics in Asia Pacific, Fresenius Kidney Care collects and evaluates data via a global eco-controlling (e-con5) software. Information on our electricity and water consumption enables us to design action plans to decrease the impact of dialysis on the environment. This activity is being extended to examine clinical and non-clinic waste generated from our operations, including recyclable waste such as plastics, glass, metal, and cardboard from packaging materials.

For more about Fresenius Medical Care’s commitment to Environmental Sustainability click here

We assume social responsibility

In a global market, Fresenius Medical Care has a decentralized organization with a high degree of responsibility at local level. This structure also applies to our Company’s social commitment. Accordingly, we not only support global organizations and projects, but also regional and local initiatives. We focus on projects aimed at the common good that follow the principle of helping people to help themselves and have a long-term impact.

Commitment to a better quality of life

Our objective is to improve the quality of life of kidney patients. Beyond our core range of products and services, we pursue this aim by cooperating globally with associations and institutions that champion the interests of dialysis patients. We also develop our own initiatives to help patients lead healthier and more active lives. In the U.S., for instance, we sponsor the Renal Support Network, a charitable association run by and for patients with chronic kidney failure. It provides patients and their families with health information, giving them more confidence in their everyday lives.

Using our expertise and network for social commitment

Fresenius Medical Care organizes and supports scientific conferences with international nephrology experts as well as training programmes for doctors and dialysis specialists worldwide. One example of this is our partnership with the Sustainable Kidney Care Foundation, which promotes projects, mainly in Africa, to give patients access to dialysis treatment in regions without an existing supply structure. 

Raising public awareness

We are also involved in raising health awareness among the general public. One example is the World Kidney Day which our employees use each year to inform people about the negative impact of kidney disease as well as the connection between kidney and cardiovascular disease. 

Our emergency aid in crisis situations

In crisis situations and in the event of global natural disasters, we provide funds, dialysis machines and medical supplies to institutions that need specific aid at short notice. Our global crisis team can be deployed immediately.