Disposal of Medical Waste – Are We Making the Most of it?

Medical waste includes a wide variety of potentially dangerous and infectious products generated by health care facilities. Without proper disposal of medical waste and adequate treatment of it in the facilities built for that purpose, this type of waste would pose a big risk not only to humans, but also to animal life and to the environment in general.

Because of the risk it brings, managing and disposal of medical waste is a big concern in the United States, so could the three Rs – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – be the solution we are looking for?

Under the term “medical waste”, we usually mean any infectious waste produced by hospitals, clinics, nursery homes, dentist offices, physician offices, medical research centers, laboratories, blood banks, ambulances, veterinary hospitals and clinics, and all the other facilities that have a purpose to treat human or animal patients. Such facilities produce tons upon tons of different medical waste on a yearly basis, from blood-soaked towels, bandages and gauzes, to stocks and cultures of infectious agents, human and animal specimens and body parts and sharps such as used needles, disposable scalpel blades, lancets and syringes.

Each one these medical wastes brings with it a certain level of hazard if it is not first collected properly, treated and then disposed of.

The Potential in Reusing and Recycling Medical Waste is There

Could relying on new materials and technologies that will allow health care facilities to reuse some of the items used in health care, such as disposable gloves, help hospitals and other medical services reduce the amount of medical waste they produce? This would certainly lift the constant burden off of the environment, but also off of municipalities and cities that have to treat and destroy this waste.

Of course, it is clear that not all medical waste can be reused, but some of it could be recycled and later used for different, if not the same, purpose. Even if certain medical wastes, such as sharps waste could not be recycled due to potentially sticking or cutting recycle factory workers, there are still plenty of products that could be.

Finally, we could also greatly benefit from the new and improved methods of disposal of medical waste such as incineration, which can now be used to generate energy using heat.

The solutions to make medical waste less of a problem for the environment and more a potential are definitely there, we just have to make an effort to make it such.

Are you looking for professional disposal of medical waste in Florida, US? Contact Medical Waste Management Florida (MWM) via our website at https://medicalwastefl.com/, or call our phone number 305-677-2343 today and get a FREE QUOTE for our service. We are looking forward to providing the best customer service to you!