Bonnet Carole, Torreggiani Massimo, Bianco Lavinia, Amiard Frédéric, Elsalhy Zeyad, Grozdanic Ajla, Grozdanic Hana, Sizov Anastasia Vladimira, Kayel Makrem, Saulnier Michaël, Vayssieres Gaëlle, Fessi Hafedh, Delorme Nicolas, Piccoli Giorgina Barbara
Human and Social Sciences, Le Mans Université, Le Mans, France.
Néphrologie et dialyse, Centre Hospitalier Le Mans, Le Mans, France.
J Am Soc Nephrol. 2025 Jun 1;36(6):1126-1137. doi: 10.1681/ASN.0000000584. Epub 2024 Dec 13.
Hemodialysis machines contribute to waste production at the end of their life cycle and have a low recycling potential. We studied the composition of the components of hemodialysis machines in terms of plastics, metal, and mixed materials. There is a need to rethink the design of hemodialysis machines in a cradle-to-cradle perspective.
Hemodialysis contributes significantly to health care's carbon footprint. Worldwide, approximately 100,000 dialysis machines end their life cycle each year. Our aim was to analyze the composition and potential for recyclability of two dialysis machines, from the two companies with the largest market share, which had met their end-of-use terms (10–12 years of use according to French regulations).
One 5008 CorDiax (Fresenius Medical Care AG) and one Artis/Evosys (Gambro AB) were dismantled, and each piece was analyzed in terms of weight and principal components (plastic, metal, mixed materials, and electronic components). The time needed to disassemble the machine was recorded. Samples of 15 plastic elements were further studied using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results were compared with the data provided by the manufacturers.
The dismantled hemodialysis machines weighed 125.0 kg and 141.4 kg; plastic, metal, mixed materials, and electronic components accounted for 28%, 15%, 51%, and 6% of the first machine's weight and 28%, 19%, 40%, and 13% of the second's, respectively. The time needed to manually disassemble a dialysis machine into macro elements was around 12 hours. Dismantling into single materials was evaluated as needing at least 1 workweek (35 hours). The plastic elements were mostly a mixture of resins (petroleum-based material used to manufacture plastics), which makes their recycling potential negligible.
This study demonstrates that hemodialysis machines contribute to waste production at the end of their life cycle, with low recycling potential, and underlines the need to rethink their design in a cradle-to-cradle perspective.
血液透析机在其生命周期结束时会产生废弃物，且回收利用潜力较低。我们从塑料、金属和混合材料方面研究了血液透析机各部件的组成。有必要从从摇篮到摇篮的角度重新思考血液透析机的设计。
血液透析对医疗保健的碳足迹有重大影响。在全球范围内，每年约有10万台透析机结束其生命周期。我们的目的是分析两家市场份额最大的公司生产的两台已达到使用期限（根据法国法规为使用10 - 12年）的透析机的组成和可回收性潜力。
拆解了一台5008 CorDiax（费森尤斯医疗护理股份公司）和一台Artis/Evosys（金宝公司），并对每个部件的重量和主要成分（塑料、金属、混合材料和电子元件）进行了分析。记录了拆解机器所需的时间。使用傅里叶变换红外光谱法对15种塑料元件样本进行了进一步研究。将结果与制造商提供的数据进行了比较。
拆解后的血液透析机重量分别为125.0千克和141.4千克；塑料、金属、混合材料和电子元件分别占第一台机器重量的28%、15%、51%和6%，占第二台机器重量的28%、19%、40%和13%。将透析机手动拆解成宏观元件所需的时间约为12小时。评估将其拆解成单一材料至少需要1个工作周（35小时）。塑料元件大多是树脂混合物（用于制造塑料的石油基材料），这使得它们的回收潜力微乎其微。
本研究表明，血液透析机在其生命周期结束时会产生废弃物，回收利用潜力较低，并强调有必要从从摇篮到摇篮的角度重新思考其设计。
