From the sustainability session discussions at the recent ART conference it was identified that there are still a significant number of UK trusts using 1:34 dilution acid instead of the stronger and lower volume 1:44 strength. The benefits of using the more concentrated acid come from the significant reduction in volume to be transported for the same amount of dialysis tretaments, reducing transport emissions. Along with reduced canister size and weight helping with storage and manual handling of acid canisters.
A project is under way to try and identify the potential reduction in C02 emissions if renal services switched to the lower volume product, and to work out the best way to encourage renal services to switch.
During the same discussion it was encouraging to see a number of renal services either in the process of installing local dry powder mixing systems for acid concentrate, or considering it for future development. These systems have a dramatic reduce the amount of water that is needlessly transported around the country, and in some cases imported from overseas.
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