VOL. VII NO. 2
APR-JUN 2011
Medical Waste Management www.medicalwastemanagementnews.com
Serving Healthcare Facility Waste Management Professionals
Attention Readers !
Are you looking for Products, Equipment or Services for your business or healthcare facility? If so, please check out these leading companies advertised in this issue:
Consulting Firms Badrick Consulting – pg 13 Kessler Consulting – pg 14
Electronics Recycling SMS Memory – pg 14
Hazardous Waste Disposal & Infection Compliance Services Battery Solutions – pg 19 Clean Harbors – pg 17 The Environmental Quality Co – pg 16
Infectious & Non‑Infectious Waste Containers & Linen Carts Bomac Carts – pg 17 Busch Systems – pg 11 Rehrig Healthcare Systems – pg 6 Rotonics Manufacturing – pg 18 Solutions Inc – pg 4 TQ Industries – pg 15
Infectious Waste Sterilizing Systems Bondtech Corporation – pg 2 The Mark-Costello Co – pg 16 OnSite Sterilization – pg 15 ReGen – pg 5
Lift Systems Bayne Premium Lift Systems – pg 3
Liquid Disposal Systems Bemis Health Care – pg 18
SHREDDERS Allegheny Shredders – pg 13
In-House RMW Processing: Cure to Incineration Woes By P.J. Heller
F
(Part One)
a ced with a near extinction of incinerators to dispose of regulated medical waste (RMW), hospitals and medical facilities worldwide are discovering that in-house processing is a costeffective solution that not only is helping the environment but having a positive impact on their bottom line. In the U.S. alone, hospitals generate some 6,600 tons of waste every day, 20 percent of which is biohazardous or infectious medical waste, according to published figures. Numerous alternative treatment technologies — autoclaving utilizing steam sterilization, microwaving or other thermal treatment, electropyrolysis, and chemical mechanical systems — are among the options available to treat RMW. Autoclaving, a proven technology that has been used for decades, is the leading technology. “The steam autoclave is the most popular and cost-effective medical waste treatment
technology,” notes autoclave manufacturer Bondtech. “Unlike the incinerator, the autoclave technology does not generate any hazardous combustion air pollutant emissions, such as hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, dioxin/furnans, metals (particulate matter), etc. The autoclaved medical waste by-product is sanitized and safe for landfill disposal. “More than 90 percent of the newly permitted commercial medical waste facilities since 1990 employ state-of-the-art autoclave technology,” it reports. One of the newest technologies recently introduced, involves maceration via thermal friction extrusion coupled with induction heat to disinfect hospital waste, including any nonhazardous wastes such as paper. Like the other technologies, the sterilized material can then be safely placed in a municipal landfill; more importantly, however, Continued on page 3