Time limits on reprocessing
Robert Copeland is a consultant in the North Carolina region with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. He says that disposables fall into several categories, and if they are candidates for reprocessing, they can usually only be reprocessed a certain amount of times - particularly those made of
plastic. "The sterilizing process of plastics has to be carefully managed because if the temperature is too high, or an incorrect sterilizing method is used - chemical changes could cause damage to the composition of the plastic. "There is a time/temperature/method relationship that must be adhered to," says Copeland. He believes that hospitals must weigh the cost versus risk when it comes to deciding whether or not to go
forward with reprocessing certain single use devices. "SterilMed limits the number of reprocessing cycles according to the specific construction and material composition characteristics of each device," says Sullivan. To assess this, the company performs an analysis that determines the structural integrity of a device, and then performs validation testing. Based on the results of the validation testing, Sullivan says, "We will determine the number of cycles a particular device can be reprocessed. The number of reprocessing cycles for devices ranges from one to five."
Landfills and incineration for medical disposables that cannot be reprocessed or recycled
Hospitals and other health care facilities have been trying to deal with medical waste for years. Incineration is one strategy that many facilities have adopted because it reduces waste in landfills and saves health care facilities money. Still, incineration has its drawbacks.

Known emissions of organic pollutants and metals cause damage to the environment with mercury and dioxin being the main culprits. Dioxin is produced from materials like plastic that react at high temperatures with materials like PVC and chlorine. Accumulating dioxins released into the environment have been proven to have an effect on the endocrine systems of humans and animals. The EPA has regulations to control the emissions from medical waste incinerators and include stringent air emissions guidelines for states to use in developing plans to reduce air pollution from medical waste incinerators built on or before June 20, 1996; and final air emission standards for medical waste incinerators (MWIs) built after June 20, 1996.

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