What are the Differences of On-Site and Off-Site Biomedical Waste Treatment Methods
Medical facilities are responsible for properly disposing any biomedical waste created as part of their operations. They can do this either on-site or off-site, depending on whether they have their own medical waste disposal facilities or they have to use someone else’s.
On-Site Bio Waste Treatment – Autoclave, Microwave and Chemical Treatment
On-site bio waste treatment methods include autoclaving, microwaving and chemical treatment.
Autoclaving is a thermal treatment used primarily for sharps waste (used and discarded needles, syringes, lancets, razor blades, scalpel blades, broken glass, etc.) that can puncture or cut skin, but can also be used for other types of infectious and potentially infectious waste.
Microwave treatment is similar to autoclaving and is also a type of thermal treatment, but uses radio waves to treat medical waste. In addition, while microwave treatment is used for solid waste, it works best if the waste has previously been shredded and mixed with water.
The third on-site treatment method is called chemical treatment and, unlike autoclaving and microwave treatment, which are used for solids, this method is used specifically for liquid and semi-liquid medical waste. Chemical treatment is usually done with chlorine and needs to be done on-site in order to avoid spilling in transport. However, chemical treatment may produce unwanted by-products, so it should only be done by well-trained staff.
Off-Site Bio Waste Treatment – Incineration and Land Disposal
When it comes to off-site bio waste treatment, there are only two methods – incineration or land disposal.
Typically, before biomedical waste can be disposed of in a landfill, it first must be treated and deactivated (for instance in an autoclave) and shredded in order to take up less space. In special cases, when medical waste cannot be decontaminated or deactivated, it can be taken to a landfill and dumped there, but only in strictly specified sanitary land disposal sites. It is important not to throw biohazardous waste anywhere else but there in order to minimize the potentially disastrous effects it can have on the surrounding and contaminate water, pollute the air or cause a wide-spread infection.
Some countries suffer from a lack of space (like Japan, for example), so they can’t use landfills to dispose their medical waste. The solution for this is to first treat medical waste in large furnaces, or incinerators. The medical waste in there is subjected to extremely high heat, which is capable of destroying 99 percent of dangerous microorganisms and the process reduces the mass and volume of the waste by around 95 per cent, turning most of it into ash, which can then be sent to a landfill.
The main problem with incinerators, especially older types is that they used to release a lot of toxic gasses into the atmosphere. Fortunately, with newer models now equipped with special filters, this problem has been somewhat addressed.
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