treatment and disposal of waste

• Pyrolysis

  • Thermal decomposition of health care waste in the absence of supplied molecular oxygen

  • Can handle the full range of health care waste

  • Waste residues (greasy aggregates or slugs, recoverable metals, or carbon black) are disposed in a landfill
• Autoclave

  • Use of steam sterilization to render waste harmless and is an efficient wet thermal disinfection process

  • Pressure (15psi) and heat (121°C temp may vary) for 15 to 30 minutes
• Microwave

  • Waste are exposed to microwaves that raise the temperature to 100°C (237.6°F) with moist heat for at least 30 minutes

  • Microorganisms are destroyed by moist heat
• Chemical Disinfection

  • Chemicals are added to health care wastes to kill or inactivate present pathogens

  • 5 % Sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid and heated alkali

  • Generates chemical wastes from the used chemical disinfectants
• Biological Process

  • Uses an enzyme mixture to decontaminate health care waste

  • Suited for large applications and is also being developed for possible use in the agricultural sector
• Encapsulation

  • Filling containers with waste, adding and immobilizing material, and sealing the containers

  • Containers are filled with up with a medium such as plastic foam, bituminous sand, and cement mortar
• Inertization

  • Suitable for pharmaceutical waste that involves the

  • mixing of waste with cement and other substances before disposal

  • Wastes are mixed with water, lime, and cement
• Landfill

  • An engineered site designed to keep waste isolated from the environment

  • The site must secure proper permits from DENR before accepting waste