Secure and Sustainable Disposal of Dialysis Machines

Situation

A world leader in healthcare services and products has clinics that focus on providing dialysis treatments to patients. As part of their commitment to sustainability, the company needed a solution for responsibly replacing outdated dialysis machines while preventing improper resue or environmental harm.  

Challenges

Each clinic is responsible for replacing the dialysis machines when they are old, outdated, or no longer working. Without proper management and disposal, this material could end up on the black market or in landfills, increasing environmental impact and costs. The client needed a partner to:

1. Sustainability Goals: Aligning disposal methods with the company’s sustainability mission by recycling materials and avoiding landfill use
2. Logistical Complexity: Remove a small number of dialysis machines on an ad-hoc basis at clinics nationwide.
3. Secure Disposal: The client required a guarantee that machines were destroyed to prevent improper re-use and/or re-sell on the black market.

Solution

Becker360 implemented a unique program to help recycle and destroy the machines, which could be located at any one of their thousands of clinics. Key actions included:

• Single Point of Contact: There is just one number to call and that can be provided to all the clinics when a pickup is needed.
• Hand Pickups: Service is based on need. A work order can be submitted for a single machine or multiple machines at any location and those machines will be picked up and taken to a local destruction/recycling facility.
• Nationwide Coverage: Have handled approximately 200 service requests annually across dozens of store locations across the country.
• Destruction & Landfill Avoidance: The dialysis machines are destroyed, but they each contain Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Copper, Circuit Boards and Misc. Metal Hardware that is being extracted and recycled as much as possible. 
• Certificate of Destruction (COD): Becker 360 also provides a Certificate of Destruction (COD) to certify that the machines are being destroyed.
• Sustainability Outcomes: Delivered detailed reports showing the number of units destroyed per location, offering clients insights into their sustainability impact.

Takeaway

Becker360 provides healthcare organizations with secure, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible solutions for managing proprietary items like medical equipment. If your business faces similar challenges, let us help turn your unique needs into measurable results.