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Kimberly-Clark Health Care and RISD Partner For Sustainability Project

09/29/2010

ROSWELL, Ga. and PROVIDENCE, R.I. – September 29, 2010 – Kimberly-Clark Health Care and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) today announced an academic partnership to develop sustainable design solutions for repurposing used hospital sterilization wrap. Although the material─used to protect surgical instruments─is not hazardous and incinerates cleanly, the volume of wrap waste generated daily makes the handling and disposal of used sterilization wrap a challenge for many hospitals. Past programs designed to reprocess the material have been unreliable or too costly for widespread use by hospitals.

To address this complex problem in an innovative way, Kimberly-Clark Health Care chose to work with RISD’s Industrial Design Department, one of the country’s top programs with more than 25 years of experience in researching “real-world” ideation projects. Kimberly-Clark’s KIMGUARD* Sterilization Wrap, the market leader and most popular wrap in use today, will serve as the model for the Kimberly-Clark/RISD project. The students will obtain used wrap for the project from project partner, New England Baptist Hospital.

Throughout the fall 2010 semester, 16 undergraduate RISD students will participate in a 12-week industrial design course called the Kimberly-Clark Green Studio under the direction of Ms. Beth Mosher, associate professor of industrial design at RISD. Their assignment is to identify sustainable new concepts and scalable designs for repurposing the KIMGUARD Sterilization Wrap. In addition, the class will also explore business models that provide hospitals with a savings in waste management costs.

“Kimberly-Clark Health Care has presented the students with the challenge to not only explore this interesting material but to create products that have a big environmental impact,” said Mosher. “This is truly a unique, hands-on opportunity to make a difference and we are all very excited about it.”

“This collaboration reinforces Kimberly-Clark’s leadership in sustainable manufacturing and our commitment to developing workable and environmentally responsible processes that also make financial sense for our customers,” said John Amat, vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Medical Supplies at Kimberly-Clark Health Care. “RISD’s Design Studio program is one of the best in the country and its students will bring an innovative and fresh perspective to this challenge. We eagerly await their ideas.”

Kimberly-Clark in the Healthcare Environment 

Around the world, medical professionals turn to Kimberly-Clark for a wide portfolio of solutions that improve the health, hygiene and well-being of their patients and staff. As part of their healing mission, caregivers rely on Kimberly-Clark to deliver clinical solutions and educational resources that they can depend on to prevent, diagnose and manage a wide variety of healthcare-associated infections. This more than $1 billion global enterprise of Kimberly-Clark Corporation holds the No. 1 or No. 2 market share position in several categories, including infection control solutions, surgical solutions, pain management and digestive health. And throughout the care continuum, patients and staff alike trust Kimberly-Clark medical supplies and devices, KLEENEX tissues, KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL skin care products and SCOTT towels for day-to-day needs. For more information, visit http://www.kchealthcare.com.

About Rhode Island School of Design 
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has earned a worldwide reputation as the preeminent art and design college in the country. Today, with more than 26,000 alumni, the college enrolls approximately 1,975 undergraduates and 425 graduate students from the United States and almost 50 countries, offering degree programs in the fine arts, architecture, and design disciplines, and art education. Academic programs include research and design initiatives, the exploration of art criticism and contemporary cultural concerns, as well as international exchange programs. Each year, RISD hosts prominent and accomplished artists, critics, and authors to its campus. Included within the college is The RISD Museum of Art, which houses a world-class collection of art objects from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and art of all periods from Asia, Europe and the Americas, as well as the latest in contemporary art. For more information, visit www.risd.edu or our.risd.edu.

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