Every month, Baxter Healthcare (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd sends 120 dialysate bags to 4,000 patients who are undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home in the Klang Valley.
The bags are made of PVC and filled with dialysis solution, which is essentially water with salt and other additives. The solution flows from the bag into the patient’s body through a catheter. After the bag is emptied, it is disposed of in a bin.
But in New Zealand and Australia, these bags — that have no contact with bodily fluids — are collected by Baxter from hospitals and recycled. When Roberto Benetello, executive director of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) Malaysia, discovered these projects, he thought it was low-hanging fruit that could be replicated in Malaysia.
