How to Sterilize Hazardous Medical Waste at Infectious Risk

The management of hazardous medical waste at infectious risk presents critical situations, which increase costs and increase the weight of your responsibilities. For how many organizational efforts you can make, it may seem difficult to find a safe, economic solution and in full compliance with current legislation.

However, a safe and effective system for the treatment and disposal of infectious risk medical waste already exists. Knowing it and applying it to hospital waste management can mark an important economic turning point for your healthcare facility.

Let's discover this revolutionary sterilization technology together, to treat and dispose of contaminated medical waste as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What are infectious risk hazardous medical wastes?

All waste that can be contaminated by biological liquids, such as blood and secretions, or coming from hospital isolation environments is considered infectious risk . Therefore, they are those waste that need to be collected or disposed of with special precautions, to avoid infections, such as:

  • gauze or cotton;
  • drainage;
  • masks and gloves;
  • needles or cutting edges;
  • scalpel;
  • catheters;

The disposal of Hazardous Waste Management Authorization at infectious risk, unlike non-hazardous waste, presents high risks and costs. Careful and laborious procedures are needed.

Infectious waste treatment workers are obliged to use specific clothing, safety shoes and must use special containers for special medical waste :

  • rigid cardboard (halipack), complete with internal polyethylene bag and self-locking band, for definitive closing.
  • in rigid plastic (halibox), in the case of cutting edges, or pointed objects;
  • Tanks for any liquid waste.

Each container must be sealed and labeled, and then transported to a place suitable for the temporary storage of dangerous medical waste at infectious risk . The permanence of infected medical waste must not exceed 5 days from the moment the container is closed . Only in the case of quantities less than 200 liters, in compliance with hygiene and safety requirements, the temporary storage times can reach 30 days.

Responsibility in the management of infectious risk medical waste

The collection and disposal of infectious risk medical waste is the responsibility of the Health Director, who must supervise and ensure compliance with the provisions of the law. Therefore, it is a responsibility that does not end when the contaminated waste is collected by the company involved in the collection service.

The burden of proper waste management involves several figures, from production to disposal. However, it is the obligation of the producer or holder of the waste to check that the employees to whom he entrusts the delivery are authorized for recovery and disposal. The consequences can be both criminal and administrative and rightly generate some concern.

Transport to landfills is numerous and expensive. The burden of responsibility is high and frustrating. This is why the sterilization of infectious risk hazardous medical waste is the safest and cheapest solution for your healthcare facility.

If your primary need is to dispose of non- hazardous medical waste, find out how to manage it and reduce volumes, to optimize costs: How to dispose of non-hazardous medical waste in an economic and safe way .

The sterilization cycle of hazardous medical waste

Of course, the idea to sterilize and disinfect the medical waste hazardous on site where it is produced is not new. However

  • removal of air in the disinfection chamber , to facilitate the action of water vapor;
  • introduction of water vapor , which facilitated by the absence of air spreads and can reach all the elements present in the waste;
  • Steam heating by microwave. A combined action that destroys 100% of the microorganisms present, even inside the containers.

Every 20 minutes you can sterilize up to 12 kg of sanitary waste at infectious risk and transform it into waste similar to urban waste . Reduce the risk of infection, the environmental impact and the burden of responsibility related to the management of contaminated medical waste. But the benefits don't end there.

Finally, the small size of the sterilization system allows you to place it, without problems, within the waste organization system. However, you will always have to comply with the procedures in accordance with the law, to manage the sterilization system and the management of waste similar to urban waste.

Validation of the sterilization system of hazardous medical waste at infectious risk

The sterilization systems located within the healthcare facilities are subject to periodic checks by the competent authorities. For this reason, their activation can only take place after a prior communication to the province of competence.

Therefore, it will be the director or health manager, or a competent public representative to proceed with the validation of the sterilization system , before it can be put into operation.

It is a sterilization system that perfectly meets your medical waste management needs, as per current legislation.

The system validation must be repeated every 24 months, or in the case of an extraordinary maintenance intervention. All related documentation must be kept for 5 years at the headquarters of the healthcare facility or where the plant is located, to show it if requested by the competent authorities.

How to dispose of sterilized waste similar to municipal waste

The waste sterilized assimilated to municipal waste must be collected and disposed of with CER code. To do this, it is necessary to use special disposable packaging, even flexible, of a different color from that used for municipal waste or other similar medical waste.

The containers must have an indelible and clearly visible indication of "sterilized medical waste" and indicate the date of sterilization. The collection and transport of medical waste treated as municipal waste are subject to the legal regime and the technical regulations governing the management of municipal waste.

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Sterilized medical waste must be disposed of at the incineration plants for the production of RDF. Or used directly as a means of producing energy. As well, they can also be disposed of in incineration plants for special waste, under the same economic conditions adopted for municipal waste.

Only if there are no waste plants in the production region:

  • for the production of RDF (waste fuel);
  • that use medical waste to produce energy;
  • of thermal destruction;

Then sterilized medical waste, after authorization by the President of the Region, can be disposed of in a landfill used for non-hazardous waste.

Optimize the treatment of infectious risk hazardous medical waste with sterilization

The management of infectious risk hazardous medical waste has a strong economic and administrative impact on healthcare facilities. With the combined use of a sterilization system.

  • risk of infection;
  • volume of waste to be disposed of;
  • number of withdrawals from specialized companies;
  • management costs of hazardous medical waste at infectious risk;
  • responsibility in the infectious risk waste disposal process;
  • Transport pollution.

The sterilization of hazardous medical waste is the safest and most economical solution that you can choose for your healthcare facility. Whether it's retirement homes, hospitals or other medical facilities, we know how complex it is to dispose of medical waste: you need reliable and effective strategies and tools.

we only select solutions that allow you to optimize costs in waste management, in total safety and in compliance with current legislation. Contact us for a free quote and discover our range of products designed for your needs in the management of medical waste. Start sterilizing potentially infected waste today and maximizing your resources.