News and Events

Five peer-reviewed abstracts accepted at the 63rd European Renal Association (ERA) Congress in Glasgow will put the KitNewCare consortium at the centre of Europe’s debate on how to make dialysis cleaner, safer and more affordable — without compromising patient care.

Kidney centres across Europe are joining forces with KitNewCare as new Associate Pilot Sites, helping to test and validate innovative solutions that aim to reduce the environmental footprint of kidney care while maintaining high-quality patient outcomes. Their participation marks an important step towards scaling sustainable kidney healthcare practices across diverse clinical settings and healthcare systems.

Across four European hospitals, clinical teams are transforming the way kidney dialysis is delivered cutting waste, saving energy, and reducing costs, all without compromising a single moment of patient care. This is the story of KitNewCare and its optimisations.

Every 20 seconds, somewhere in the world, a person dies from chronic kidney disease. Most of them never saw it coming. The condition progresses quietly, often without symptoms, until the damage is already severe. Now, new research involving scientists from across Europe warns that this silent disease is already affecting hundreds of millions of people, and could soon become one of the leading causes of death in Europe.

Sustainability in healthcare is no longer a distant goal, it is an urgent responsibility. As World Kidney Day 2026 approaches, KitNewCare partners across Europe are launching a series of webinars that explore how kidney care can evolve to meet the environmental, social and economic challenges of our time.

As healthcare systems across Europe seek to reduce their environmental footprint without compromising patient care, the KitNewCare project is inviting kidney care centres to join its next phase of pilot activities as Associate Pilot Sites.

KitNewCare will hold its second Innovation Challenge on 15 December, bringing together clinical partners, sustainability experts and industry stakeholders to reflect on the project’s first round of environmental audits and identify the priority innovations needed to advance greener kidney care across Europe.

If the healthcare sector were a country, it would rank fifth among the world’s biggest emitters. Kidney disease, a silent threat affecting over 100 million Europeans, is treated through a highly polluting system now being tackled with a technology- and education-driven approach toward cleaner, smarter nephrology. Yet, the World Health Organization reminds us: “The greenest cure is prevention.”

Dialysis saves lives, but at what environmental cost? A new study from the KitNewCare consortium offers detailed calculation of the carbon and water footprint of haemodialysis, and points to practical solutions for making kidney care more sustainable

Your kidneys quietly save your life every day—yet chronic kidney disease silently threatens millions worldwide. Join us as we launch KitNewCare’s prevention campaign to uncover why these small, mighty organs deserve your attention now more than ever.

From plastic waste to AI-driven tools, a new wave of innovation is reshaping the environmental footprint of kidney care. In this second and final instalment of our series, we follow James Larkin beyond assessment and into action, exploring how his research within the KitNewCare project is driving practical solutions for a more sustainable future. From pioneering local dialysate systems and advanced recycling techniques to Europe-wide collaborations and digital tools, Larkin’s work shows that change is not only possible. It’s already happening.

This article is the first in a two-part series exploring James Larkin’s journey from a product design graduate to a pioneer in sustainable kidney care. It delves into how his unique background, initially disconnected from healthcare, became an asset in confronting the environmental challenges associated with kidney dialysis. Readers will learn about the pivotal insights gained from rigorous life cycle assessments (LCAs), uncovering surprising contributors to dialysis’s significant environmental footprint.